How Did We Get Here?
by BohemianGirl06
Summary: Prequel to Time Flies. Roger and Kelly's relationship from when they were in high school up untill she leaves. Will include Mark, Maureen, Benny, and Collins. Complete.
1. The Funeral

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. All character you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson and all those you don't belong to me.

Thirteen year old Roger Davis watched his mother move around the kitchen. She was rushing around putting dishes away, finally she stopped and started to cry. Roger rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's ok mom." He said softly.

"I just can't believe it." She said pulling away from him and wiping her eyes. "I really didn't think that she would pass away."

"I know." He said quietly looking at the floor.

"Roger I want you to look after Kelly, ok?" She said. "This is going to be really hard for her."

"I know." He said looking up. "We were all going to go there after school today."

"That's a good idea sweetie." She said hugging him. "Are you sure you're up to going to school today?"

"Yeah. I have to get Kelly's school work for her." Roger said.

"Ok. You should probably be getting to school. Is Becca ready?" She asked.

"Yeah she's up in the bathroom right now she should be down in a minute." He said grabbing his book bag.

"Remember that you need to get your work for the next two days too. Tomorrow's the wake and then the next day is the funeral." She said, tears forming in her eyes again.

"I will." He said as he hugged her one last time before leaving. He waited on the front steps of his house for his sister to come down. He saw one of his best friends make her way across the lawn.

"Hey Roger." Maureen said sitting down next to him.

"Hey Mo." He said looking at the ground. "How are you holding up?" He asked looking up at her for the first time. He could see the tears in her eyes.

"I guess I'm doing ok. I can't believe that she's gone. I mean she was like another mom to all of us." She said trying to hold back her tears. Roger wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I know. But she's not in any pain anymore." He tried comforting her. "But we got to be strong for Kelly, Mo. She's going to be real upset for awhile."

"I know. Don't worry I won't cry in front of her." Maureen said wiping her eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that Mo." Roger said.

"I know. But she doesn't need me breaking down in front of her. She needs us to be her shoulder's to cry on." She said.

"You're a really good friend." Roger said. He heard the door open, he turned around and saw Becca standing there. "You ready?" He asked. Becca just nodded and followed him down the steps. They walked in silence to the bus stop when they got there, Mark and Benny were waiting there.

"Hey guys." Benny said. Everyone said hey. They all stood their in silence.

"We're still going to Kelly's after school, right?" Mark asked.

"Yeah." Roger said. No one said another word. They just waited until the bus came.

* * *

Roger was going nuts. He couldn't concentrate in any of his classes. By the time lunch came around he couldn't take it anymore. He found Mark walking into the cafeteria.

"Mark I'm going to go to Kelly's, ok?" He said pulling him off to the side.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Mark asked.

"No. If we all left they would suspect something. Just come by after school, ok?" He said.

"Ok. Tell her we love her and we'll be by later." Mark said.

"I will." Roger said turning around and walking out of the school building. It took him about twenty minutes to walk to Kelly's. He noticed that her fathers car wasn't in the driveway. 'That's weird' he thought. He walked up to the door and got the spare key out from under the doormat. He grabbed the key and quickly went inside.

"Kelly?" He called out dropping his book bag by the door. He when he didn't get an answer he started to get worried. He quickly ran up the stairs and into Kelly's bedroom. She wasn't there but then he heard crying coming from the next room. He gently opened the door and saw Kelly curled up in a ball crying on the bed. It was the room that her mom stayed in when she got sick. Roger walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.

"Hey." He said softly reaching out taking her hand in his.

"Hi." She managed to say between sobs. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"I thought that you could use a friend today." He said. "Have you eaten anything today?" Kelly shook her head. "Come on you need to eat." He said pulling her up with him.

"I don't want to." She said pulling away from him.

"Kelly you need to eat ok?" He pleaded with her. "Please?"

"Fine." She said. Roger wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the room and to the kitchen.

"So what do you want to eat?" He asked looking through the refrigerator.

"I think Mrs. Coffin sent over a casserole." She said quietly from the table.

"Ok. I bet its good. She's a really good cook." He said trying to find the casserole. He finally found it he pulled it out and just stared at it. Not really knowing what to do with it.

"Put it in the microwave." Kelly said still looking at her hands.

"I knew that." He tried laughing. He put it in the microwave and sat down next to her. "Everyone said that they'll stop by later." Kelly just nodded and continued to look at her hands. "You want to talk about it?" He asked taking her hand in his.

"There's nothing to talk about." She said.

"Kelly you can't just not talk about it." Roger said.

"She's dead Roger. She's dead and she's not coming back." Kelly said before breaking down. Roger pulled her into a hug.

"It's going to be ok, Kelly." He said softly as she cried into his shirt. "It'll be ok."

"How can you say that? It's not going to get better." She yelled pulling away from him.

"It will get better. It just takes time." He said pulling her into another hug. "You know you have a lot of people that are here for you. Whatever you need I'm here."

"I know." She said pulling away from him and trying to dry her eyes. "I don't want to be in this house right now." She said with tears pouring out of her eyes.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"I don't know. Anywhere but here." She said.

"How about we go back to my house and listen to some records?" He asked.

"Won't your mom be mad that your not at school?" She asked.

"No, she'll understand." He said standing up and helping her up. They walked to the Davis house in silence. When they got there Roger told Kelly to wait for him upstairs. After she walked up the stairs Roger went to go find his mother.

"Mom?" He asked walking into the kitchen. She was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Roger what are you doing home?" She asked.

"Well I kept thinking about Kelly so I kind of left school and went over to her house. Please don't be mad." He said looking down at the ground.

"I'm not mad. But don't leave school like that again with out calling me. Ok?" she said walking over to him.

"She's really upset. She didn't want to be at her house so I told we could come here and listen to music or something." He said.

"Ok. But I'm going to go upstairs and talk to her first, ok?" She asked.

"Ok. I'll wait down in the living room." He said following his mother into the living room. He sat down in the living room trying to watch tv until his mother came back down nearly an hour later.

"You can go up now Roger." She said walking down the stairs. He nodded and practicly flew up the stairs. When he walked into the room Kelly was sitting on his bed with her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Hey." He said sitting down next to her. "So what do you want to listen to?" He asked. Kelly shrugged. "How about Bruce Springsteen?" He asked getting up and walking over to his record player.

"You hate Bruce Springsteen." She said quietly.

"I don't hate him. I just can't listen to him everyday of the week." He said laughing and putting on the record. He came back to the bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. They sat there listening to music for hours until they both fell asleep.

* * *

Roger stood there watching his brother and dad helping to carry the casket. It was hard to believe that Mrs. Keaton was dead. She had been like a second mother to him since the day he was born. His mother and Mrs. Keaton had been best friends since they were little and they stayed close for the rest of their lives. Mrs. Keaton had been diagnosed with breast cancer when he was 9. His mother had named his baby sister Lindsey after her. The doctors told her that she would be lucky if she lived for a year. She lived four more years. She was determined to see Kelly grow up. Roger looked over at Kelly. She was standing there crying uncontrollably. Mr. Keaton had tears streaming down his face. Roger walked up to Kelly and took her hand in his. They stood there and listened to the priest.

"While we may not think it's fair, God does have a plan. And we must take comfort in knowing that Lindsey is now in heaven." The priest said. After he was done he told everyone that they were welcome to go back to the Keaton's house for the wake. As everyone dispersed Kelly and Roger just stood there. Mr. Keaton kissed Kelly's forehead before leaving. Kelly let go of Roger's hand and walked over to the headstone. She ran her fingers over the engraving. Then she kissed her fingers and whispered goodbye before coming back to Roger. He took her hand and they walked back to where the Davis's were waiting.

A/N: That's the first chapter I hope you all liked it. Remember to review, I love to hear your feed back. I want to dedicate this story to Renthead621 who is always there if I get writers block. You rock! I'm going to start the next chapter now so that will probably be up tonight.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	2. Barb's Grad Party

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. All characters you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson and all characters you don't recognize belong to me.

"Wake up Davis!" Roger heard someone yell as they yanked his covers off. He opened his eyes and saw Kelly standing there with an amused smirk on her face. "Nice boxers." She said laughing. Roger looked down and saw he was wearing his Snoopy boxers.

"You know you think their sexy." He said smirking trying not let it show that she got to him.

"Oh yeah. How did you know that most girls get so turned on by Snoopy?" She asked sitting down in one of his chairs.

"Is there any particular reason that you're here?" He asked getting up and pulling on his plaid pajama pants.

"Roger aren't you happy to see me?" She said pretending to sound hurt.

"No I'm not happy to see you at," he looked at his alarm clock. "8:30 in the fucking morning on the first day of summer vacation."

"Maureen wants to go to the lake. She said something about not letting this summer pass us by or something, I sort of stopped listening." Kelly said laughing. "And don't complain she woke me up at 7:30. Who would you rather have wake you up? Me or Maureen?"

"That's like asking me if I would rather have someone smash my fender or kick me in the balls." He said dryly.

"Would you like me to kick you in the balls?" Kelly asked with a smile.

"Can you please leave so I can get dressed?" He asked walking over to his closet.

"What does it matter? We're all girls here." She said standing up.

"Get out." He yelled pointing at the door. Kelly laughed and walked out the door. Roger walked downstairs fifteen minutes later to find Kelly in his kitchen eating pancakes.

"Where did you get those?" He asked sitting down next to her.

"Your mom made them. Your plate is in the microwave." She said.

"If mine's in the microwave, who's is that?" He asked pointing to the plate.

"Billy's." She said grinning.

"That right there is the reason you are my best friend." He said getting up.

"You mean it's not because of my stunning good looks?" She asked.

"Yeah right." He said. Kelly got up and wrapped her arm around his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

"You know you love me Roger." She said before walking towards the door. "I got to go borrow a shirt from Becca I'll be back in a minute. Roger let out a sigh as soon as she was out of sight. He'd realized that he'd had a crush on Kelly early that year. They went to the freshman dance earlier that year and when she came down the steps in that dress it felt like someone had knocked the air out of his lungs. Of course that had been in October and it was now June and he had yet to say anything to her about it. He couldn't risk his friendship with her. She had been one of his best friends since the day they were born. He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear Kelly come back into the kitchen.

"Don't think too hard, you might break." She said.

"Shut up." He said as he finished his breakfast and put the dish in the sink.

"You know you love me." She said laughing. "Come on we should get going before Maureen kills someone." Kelly said standing up. Roger nodded and followed her out the door. They walked next door to Maureen's house and saw that Maureen and Mark were already waiting outside for them.

"Took you long enough. What were you doing making out or something?" Maureen said grinning.

"Maureen." Kelly and Roger both shouted.

"It was a joke, chill." She said. "Come on let's go." She said as they started their walk to the lake. It was about twenty minutes away. When they got there Maureen opened the cooler that she had packed for them.

"I got pop, bottled water, and sandwiches." She said taking a pop out.

"Why didn't Benny come?" Kelly asked taking out a bottle of water.

"There was a family emergency. He's going to gone for a few days." Mark said wrapping his arms around Maureen's waist.

"Pookie let's go for a walk." She said as she grabbed his hand and led him away.

"If all their going to do is make out in the woods why the hell did I have to get up?" Roger asked sitting down on one of the blanket. Kelly shrugged.

"It's way too fucking hot to just be sitting here. I'm going swimming." She said getting up. She pulled off her tank top and shorts. Roger's heart sped up when he saw her bikini. "You coming?" Roger nodded and striped down to his swimming trunks. When they got in the water Kelly splashed Roger.

"Oh you are going to pay for that." He said as he chased her through the water. He grabbed her and dunked her.

"Roger!" She shrieked as he dunked her. She came back up and splashed him again.

"You just don't learn." He said as he grabbed her again. That time though he didn't dunk her. He stood there with his arms around her waist looking down at her. He slowly leaned down, when their lips were centimeters apart the heard Maureen.

"Get a room!" Maureen yelled laughing hysterically. Roger and Kelly jumped apart and got out of the water. "Did we interrupt something?" She asked laughing.

"No." Roger said glaring at her as he pulled on his jeans and t-shirt.

"Well that's not the way it looked to me." Maureen said smiling.

"Well then maybe you should get your eyes checked." Kelly said putting on her tank top. Maureen laughed and let the subject drop.

"You guys are going to Barb's party right?" Maureen asked.

"Yeah. Billy said we're allowed to come as long as we behave and stay out of the way." Kelly said.

"It's awesome that she invited us to he graduation party." Mark said as they packed everything up. "How pissed was Billy?"

"At first he said we couldn't go but then I threatened to tell my mom and he quickly changed his tune." Roger laughed.

"So where do your parents think we'll be at?" Kelly asked.

"That we're going to the movies and then spending the night at your house." Roger said. "Do you think your dad will mind?" Kelly laughed bitterly.

"I wouldn't know he's not home." She said.

"Sorry." Roger said.

"Not your fault. He's supposed to be back at the end of the week but who knows if he will be." She said.

"Why didn't you stay at my house if he's out of town again?" He asked.

"He said that I was old enough to stay home if I wanted too. I just figured I'd stay home this time." She said.

"You know my mom loves when you're over." Roger said.

"I know." She said. He could tell that she didn't want to talk about it so he let it drop. When they got back Maureen and Kelly went to Maureen's to get ready while Roger and Mark went to his house.

* * *

"How does this look?" Maureen asked walking back into her bedroom. She was wearing a tight pair of jeans and a blue tube top.

"It looks really good Maureen." Kelly said getting up. "I'm going to go get dressed now." She said walking out of the room. She came back in wearing a form fitting blank tank top and a short jean skirt.

"How do I look?" Kelly asked.

"I think Roger's gonna get a hard on right when he sees you." Maureen said.

"That's disgusting Mo." Kelly said throwing a pillow at her.

"What? It's true. He likes you and you like him. I don't know why you don't get together already." Maureen said putting on her eyeliner.

"Were friends Mo, nothing less, nothing more." Kelly said pulling her hair up.

"What about earlier?" Maureen asked.

"Nothing happened earlier." Kelly said as she put her shoes on.

"But it would have." Maureen said.

"You're wrong." Kelly said checking herself one last time in the mirror.

"Whatever. Let's go." Maureen said as she grabbed a jacket and walked out of the room. Mark and Roger were waiting outside when Maureen and Kelly walked out the door.

"Hi boys." Maureen said before kissing Mark.

"You look amazing Mo." Mark said wrapping his arm around her.

"Thank you Pookie." She laughed. "You guys ready?" She asked turning to Roger and Kelly.

"Yeah." Roger said still looking at Kelly. "You look really good Kel." He whispered as they walked to Barb's.

"Thanks." Kelly said hoping that he couldn't see her blushing. They walked the rest of the way to Barb's in silence. When they got there Billy answered the door.

"Ok, here are the rules. One you stay in the basement. Two, you can have beer but stay away from anything stronger than that. Three, so help me God I will kill all of you if you cause any problems. And four, if you tell mom and dad they won't find your bodies." Billy said.

"Billy will shut up and stop being a prick to your brother and his friends." Barb said as she came to the door.

"Here are the rules that you actually have to follow. One, beer only. Two, you are allowed anywhere you want. Three, tell me before you leave. If I don't think you are able to get home on your own then you stay. And four, have fun." She said smiling moving to the side and letting them in. They made there way down to the basement. There were a bunch of people already there. When Kelly walked over to the cooler to get a beer Travis Jones walked up to her.

"Hi Kelly." He said smiling down at her.

"Hi Travis." She said getting a beer. She didn't like him at all. He was one of those guys who thought they were God's gift to the earth.

"So what are you doing here?" He asked putting his hand on her back. Kelly moved away slightly.

"Barb invited me." She said feeling uncomfortable.

"That's cool." He put his hand on her back and bent down. "You want to dance?" He whispered into her ear.

"No. I think I'm just going to hang out with my friends for awhile." She said trying to back away put he pulled her closer.

"Let me go." Kelly warned. He grinned and pulled her closer, he went to say something but Roger pushed him back.

"Stay the hell away from her." Roger said angrily.

"And what the fuck are you going to do about it Davis." Travis laughed.

"Touch her again and find out." Roger said clenching his fist. Travis grinned and went to grab Kelly again but Roger's fist slammed into his cheek. At first Travis was stunned but then he punched Roger across the face causing him to fall to the floor. He went to go after Roger again but he was grabbed and thrown into the wall.

"Put your hands on my brother again and see what I fucking do to you." Billy said as he slammed him into the wall again.

"He fucking started it." Travis yelled.

"What happened?' Billy asked looking at Kelly.

"He wanted me to dance with him, and I said no. And he wouldn't let me go so Roger came over." Kelly said helping Roger up. Billy slammed Travis into the wall again.

"See now we have an even bigger problem. Because she's like a sister to me. So not only did you hit my brother but you tried forcing yourself on someone who's like a sister to me." Billy said slamming him into the wall again once.

"Billy." Barb said trying to calm him down.

"You are so lucky that my girl is right here. Because if she wasn't I'd beat your fucking worthless ass. Now get the fuck out of this house and don't even think about coming back." Billy said releasing him. As Travis walked away he glared at Roger and Kelly. "Look at them that way again and I won't care that my girlfriend's here." Billy said angrily. Billy followed him out to make sure he left.

"Are you ok Roger?" Barb asked looking at his already black eye.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said, he winced when she touched it.

"It's bleeding a little. Kelly take Roger up to the bathroom and help him clean it up." Barb said turning to Kelly. Kelly nodded and took Roger's hand leading him up to the bathroom. When they got to the bathroom she made him sit on the edge of the bathroom.

"How are we going to explain this to your mother?" She asked as she put some hydrogen peroxide on a wash clothe.

"I guess say I ran into a door or something." He said as she knelt down in front of him.

"This is probably going to hurt a little." She said before placing it on his cheek.

"Fuck." He said wincing.

"Stop bitching." She said laughing.

"Try having someone punch you and then have someone put shit that stings on it." He said defensively. Kelly rolled her eyes and gently blew on the cut to make it sting less.

"That better?" She asked. She was so close to his face that he could feel her breath.

"Yeah." He managed to croak out. She went to move away but Roger grabbed her hand.

"What?" she asked. Roger took a deep breathe and leaned foreword slowly. He gently placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her toward him. When their lips touched Roger felt a thousand volts of electricity go through his body. He expected her to pull away or smack him. But instead she leaned in and deepened the kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck while his went around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He slowly slid down to the ground. Then there was a knock at the door.

"What the hell?" He said angrily pulling away from Kelly. "What?" He shouted at the door.

"Roger it's Barb, are you ok sweetie?" She asked through the door.

"Yeah. We'll be out in a minute." He called.

"Ok. I'll be downstairs." She said as they heard her walk away. Roger looked at Kelly. She was smiling.

"So what does this…" he got out before she crashed her lips into his again.

"Does that answer your question?" She said smiling when she pulled away.

"I think it does." He said grinning before kissing her again.

A/N: And that's chapter two. I hope everyone liked it. I just want to thank Renthead621 and Moowitmi324 for reviewing as always you are truly awesome! Next chapter will be up tomorrow night.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	3. Dinner, The Movies, And The Talk

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what's Jonathon's and what's mine.

Roger stood in front of his mirror trying to see if he looked ok. Tonight was his first official date with Kelly and he had never been more nervous in his life. He wanted this night to go perfectly. Roger sighed and walked over to his dresser and started pulling out a bunch of shirts. He put on a blue button down shirt and looked in the mirror again.

"Someone's nervous." Roger turned around to find his twin sister Becca standing in the doorway.

"That obvious?" He asked sitting down on his bed.

"Just a little. I've only heard you pacing back and forth for the past two hours." She laughed sitting down next to him. "So what are you so nervous about?"

"I'm taking Kelly out and I just want everything to be perfect." He said looking down at the ground.

"What are you planning on doing?" She asked.

"Well I was thinking that we could go see a movie and then go eat at the pizzeria." He said.

"That sounds like a great idea." Becca said patting his shoulder.

"But what if she doesn't like the movie or she thinks that it's lame or something." Roger asked laying back on his bed.

"Roger I'm sure that you guys will have an amazing time. All that matters is that you two are together." Becca said getting up.

"When did you get so smart about things like this." Roger asked sitting up.

"I don't know, I guess it's just a gift that I have." She said smiling as she left the room. Roger sighed and looked over at the clock, he should be heading over to Kelly's soon. He got up and looked at himself one last time before heading downstairs. Roger's mother was waiting for him when he got downstairs.

"Oh don't you look handsome." Mrs. Davis said hugging him.

"Mom." Roger said pulling away.

"What I'm not allowed to gush that my baby boy is going on his first date?" She asked laughing.

"No." He said.

"Well I am so deal with it." She said. "Now you know what time you have to be home by right?"

"11:30." Roger said grabbing his jacket.

"That's right. And do you have your wallet?" Mrs. Davis asked trying to flatten his hair.

"My don't touch my hair." He said. "And yes I have my wallet. I'm not an idiot."

"Ok. Have fun then." She said kissing his cheek as Mr. Davis walked over.

"Roger, remember what we talked about." Mr. Davis said grinning.

"Dad!" Roger yelled.

"I was a teenager once too. Just remember what we talked about." He said laughing.

"Whatever." Roger muttered as he walked out of the door. It took about ten minutes to walk to Kelly's house. When he got to the door he felt his heart speed up. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Maureen answered the door.

"Hey Rog, Kelly will be down in a minute." She said walking out of the house. "You two have fun." She said as she walked next door to Mark's house. Roger sat down on the steps as he waited for Kelly to come out. He heard the door open and he turned around. And that's where all words cease to come into his head.

"You look…wow." That was the most intelligent word Roger could manage to utter as he stood up.

"Thanks." Kelly said smiling. "You look good too." Roger just nodded as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"I guess we should get going." He said as he took her hand and led her down the sidewalk. As they were walking he kept looking down at Kelly. She was wearing a pink dress that came down about an inch above her knees and pink flip flops. She had her hair pulled up and it was slightly curled. She was truly a vision in his eyes.

"So what movie are we seeing?" Kelly asked as they approached the theater.

"Um I don't know." Roger said looking at the different movies they were playing.

"There playing a special showing of Love Story!" Kelly said excitedly. "Can we see that?" She asked looking up at him.

"Is it a chick flick?" Roger asked smiling down at her.

"Maybe." She said grinning. "Please?" She asked kissing his cheek.

"You owe me one." He said as he bought the tickets. "Do you want anything to eat?" He asked as they walked by the concession stand.

"Just some rasinettes and something to drink." She said.

"Ok. You sure you don't want any popcorn?" He asked as they waited in line.

"Yeah." She said. Roger paid for the food and they made their way into the theater. They sat towards the back of the theater; Roger smiled when Kelly laid her head on his shoulder. By the end of the movie Kelly was in tears.

"Are you ok?" Roger asked putting his arm around her waist.

"It was just so sad." She said wiping her eyes. "Did you like it." She asked looking up at him.

"It was ok. Kind of sappy though." He said as they walked into the pizzeria.

"It wasn't sappy it was romantic!" She said as they sat down.

"Same thing." Roger said laughing. "Come on you have to admit that that one line was pretty corny."

"Love means never having to say your sorry is romantic!" she said.

"I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree then. He laughed. "Besides did you really expect me to like that movie?"

"Then why did you agree to see it?" She asked as the waiter came over with a pitcher of coke. Roger shrugged.

"That's the movie that you wanted to see." He said. Kelly leaned across the table and kissed him.

"You are the best." She said smiling. "Next time we'll go see whatever movie you want."

"Rambo?" Roger asked smiling. Kelly rolled her eyes.

"I guess if that's what you really want to see." She said. They stayed there until the pizzeria closed at 11.

"Well I guess we should get going." Roger said standing up. Kelly nodded and got up too. As they walked out the door Kelly placed her hand in Roger's.

"Is your dad back in town yet?" He asked.

"No. He said that there was an emergency or something and that he had to stay a few extra days. He promised that he'd be back on Monday." She said looking at the ground.

"Why don't you stay at my house tonight then. My mom doesn't like when your home by yourself." Roger said.

"I'm fine at my house." She said. Roger stopped walking.

"You shouldn't be alone all the time." He said looking down at her. "Please just stay at my house tonight?"

"Ok." She said. Roger leaned down and kissed her before starting to walk again. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were sitting in the living room when they walked in.

"Mom I'm home." Roger called as he shut the door. Mrs. Davis appeared in the hallway.

"Did you two have fun?" She asked smiling.

"Yeah." Roger said as he put his jacket away. "Do you mind if Kelly stays over tonight, since her dad is out of town?"

"Of course not. Becca is at one of her friends house so Kelly can sleep in her room." Mrs. Davis said.

"Ok. Were going to head upstairs then." Roger said as they walked upstairs.

"Roger, wait. I want to talk to you for a minute." Mr. Davis said walking into the room. Roger walked back downstairs and followed him into the kitchen.

"What do you want to talk about dad?" Roger asked sitting down at the table.

"I know this isn't something that you want to talk about but we need to talk about it." Mr. Davis said as he sat down. "I'm happy for you and Kelly, but we need to talk about spending the night over here."

"She's sleeping in Becca's room." Roger said realizing where this conversation was going.

"I know. But I just want to set up some rules. First off she doesn't sleep in your room anymore. She can spend the night anytime but she stays in Becca's room." He said.

"Ok. Are we done yet?" Roger asked as his cheeks started to burn. This was without a doubt the most embarrassing conversation he had ever had.

"No. I just want to talk to you about one more thing." Mr. Davis said. "Now I know that you and Kelly just started dating but I also know how teenagers are. I just want you to be careful. I don't think you should be having sex at your age but I really can't stop you if you choose to. Just remember to be careful. But I do hope you wait until marriage to have sex." Mr. Davis said. By the end of his mini speech Roger's face was beat red.

"Are we done?" Roger asked.

"Yep." Mr. Davis said standing up. "Just remember our little chat." He said as he patted his son on the back. Roger grabbed to cokes before heading upstairs. When he got there he saw Kelly laying on his bed listening to Led Zeppelin III.

"I borrowed a t-shirt and pajama pants, I hope you don't mind." She said sitting up.

"It's fine." He said handing her a pop and sitting next to her.

"So what did your dad want to talk about?" She asked taking a sip of her pop.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said leaning back.

"He gave you the sex talk didn't he?" She asked laughing.

"It's not funny." He said. Kelly laughed again and laid her head on his shoulder.

"It kind of is." She yawned.

"You tired?" He asked looking down at her.

"A little bit. But I don't want to get up." She said with her eyes closed.

"Just go to sleep then, I'll put you in Becca's room later." He said kissing her forehead. Kelly nodded and was asleep with in minutes. Roger lay with his arms around her for a little bit until he decided to put her in Becca's room. He carefully picked her up and put her in Becca's bed. Before he left he gently kissed her lips before going back into his room. That night he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

A/N: I know that it's kind of short, I promise that the next chapter will be longer. Just want to thank Renthead621 and Moowitmi324 for their reviews. You guys are amazing. The next chapter will be up sometime tonight or tomorrow. Remember to review I love to hear what you think. Oh and one last thing if you haven't seen Love Story go out and rent it. It's one of those really girly chick flicks but it's a classic.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	4. A New Mother?

Disclaimer: We all know that I don't own Rent.

When Roger walked downstairs the next morning he found Kelly sitting on the couch playing with his five year old sister Lindsey.

"Hey." He said sitting down on the couch. Lindsey jumped into his lap.

"Roger, me and Kelly are going to play dress up. Do you wanna play with us?' Lindsey asked excitedly as she bounced up and down.

"Settle down munchkin I just woke up." Roger laughed. "Where's my mom at?" He asked looking up at Kelly.

"She asked if we could watch Lindsey until Billy or Becca gets home. She said she had to run over to the Cohen's for a little bit." Kelly said smiling.

"Did you eat yet Munchkin?" He asked carrying Lindsey into the kitchen. Lindsey shook her head. "Ok, what do you want for breakfast?" He asked setting he down on the counter.

"Spaghetti O's!" Lindsey yelled. Kelly laughed sitting down at the table.

"I don't think so munchkin. How about some Captain Crunch?" He asked grabbing the box out of the cupboard. Lindsey nodded her head. Roger poured three bowls of cereal and set them on the table before picking up Lindsey again and putting her at the table.

"So what do you want to do today?" Roger asked Kelly.

"I thought we could hang out with everyone since Benny's coming back today." Kelly said.

"I wanna play dress up." Lindsey whined.

"After breakfast I promise we'll play dress up." Kelly said smiling at the little girl.

"Will Roger play with us?" She asked pouting.

"I don't know. Will you play dress up with us?" Kelly asked mimicking Lindsey's pout.

"Nothing frilly or pink." Roger said crossing his arms of his chest.

"I promise we won't put you in anything frilly or pink." Kelly laughed. As soon as they were done eating Lindsey dragged them up to her room to play dress up.

"Ok. Roger you are the prince and Kelly is the princess." Lindsey said handing Kelly a pink crown.

"And who are you?" Kelly asked laughing.

"I'm the queen." Lindsey said putting her hands on her hips.

"Of course." Roger laughed. "Ok so what exactly do we do?

"The evil dragon kidnapped the princess and now you have to go find her." Lindsey said as she dragged Kelly out of the room.

"Where are you going?" He called after them.

"We're hiding silly." Lindsey yelled.

"Ok. Tell me when you're ready." Roger said.

"Ok. We're ready!" Lindsey shouted. Roger walked out of Lindsey's room and downstairs. It took him a half an hour to find where they were at. He opened the closet door in the basement and found Kelly and Lindsey sitting on the ground.

"Yeah! Roger killed the dragon!" Lindsey shouted as she wrapped her arms around his legs. "But the evil dragon put a sleeping spell on the princess and the only thing that will wake her up is a kiss from the prince." Lindsey says in a serious tone looking up at Roger. Roger smiled and looked over at Kelly who was smiling.

"Well then I guess I have to save her don't I?" Roger said smiling. He leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to Kelly's lips. Lindsey squealed happily.

"And they all lived happily ever after!" She says very dramatically. Roger and Kelly laughed. Roger picked Lindsey up and carried her upstairs.

"How about we watch some cartoons now?" He asked setting her down on the couch. He set her down on the couch, Lindsey quickly curled up on one end while Kelly and Roger sat on the other. Within minutes Lindsey was asleep.

"Roger, she's asleep." Kelly whispered. "Maybe you should go put her upstairs." Roger nodded and picked Lindsey up and carried her upstairs. Roger came back downstairs and sat next to Kelly.

"She's out." He said as he wrapped his arm around her. Kelly nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. "Looks like she's not the only one who's tired." Roger said looking down at her.

"I've been up with her since eight. I don't know how she can have that much energy when she first gets up." Kelly said yawning.

"Why don't you just try sleeping for a little bit until my mom gets home and then we can head over to Benny's." Roger said. Kelly nodded and closed her eyes.

* * *

Mrs. Davis walked into the living room and started smiling. Kelly and Roger were asleep on the couch. She walked into the kitchen to start getting dinner ready. Roger walked into the kitchen a minute later.

"Hey mom." Roger said opening the fridge and pulling out the milk and started drinking from the carton.

"Roger don't drink out of the carton." Mrs. Davis said rolling her eyes.

"Sorry mom." He said laughing as he put the milk back in the fridge. "Is it ok if I go to Benny's?"

"Yes. Are you going to be here for dinner?" She asked.

"Probably not. Is that ok?" He asked sitting at the table.

"That's fine I'll just put your dinner in the refrigerator for later. Where's Lindsey?" She asked.

"She fell asleep about an hour ago so I put her up in her room." Roger said standing up. "We're going to head out now. Bye." He said hugging his mother before leaving the room.

* * *

Kelly and Roger walked hand in hand over to Benny's house. Benny answered the door, he looked at their joined hands and smiled.

"Bout time." Benny said laughing as he moved aside to let them into the house.

"Did everyone one know?" Kelly asked Roger as they walked down the steps to Benny's basement.

"I guess." He shrugged. When they got downstairs Maureen and Mark were making out on the couch.

"Guys!" Benny yelled.

"Sorry." They both mumbled as they sat up.

"So help me God, you two better not turn into them." Benny said looking at Roger and Kelly.

"Don't worry we won't." Kelly said laughing as her and Roger sat down in one of the chairs.

"So what are we going to do tonight?" Maureen asked.

"Sit here and listen to music?" Roger suggested. Maureen let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Oh that'll be fun." Maureen said sarcastically. "It's not like we do that everyday."

"Well what do you want to do then?" Roger asked.

"We could go to the fair." Maureen said excitedly.

"Oh that will be so much funny." Kelly said turning to Roger. "Please can we go?" She asked pouting.

"Yeah." He said rolling his eyes. "Come on everyone, let's get going." Roger said standing up and ushering everyone out of the house.

* * *

"Roger can we go on in the tunnel of love?" Kelly asked wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Do we have to?" Roger grumbled. Kelly leaned up and kissed him.

"Please for me?" She asked. One look in those big blue eyes and Roger couldn't say no.

"Fine." He said and let her drag him over to the ride. They spent the next few hours there. Roger even won Kelly a stuffed animal from one of the booths.

* * *

Roger was walking Kelly back to her house later on that night.

"Are you sure that you want to stay at your house?" He asked with his arms around her waist. "I'd love it if you stayed at my house."

"I just feel like staying at my house tonight." She said.

"Ok, if that's what you want" He said kissing her cheek. When they got to Kelly's house Roger noticed that her dad's car was in the driveway and the lights were on. "I thought your dad was supposed to be out of town for a few more days?"

"He was, I wonder what he's doing home." She said as she opened the door. "Dad?" she called as she walked into the house.

"Hey little one." Mr. Keaton said walking in from the living room and hugging her. "How are you?"

"I'm good." She said hugging him back. "I thought you wouldn't be home until next week?"

"Well I told them that I had to come home early and that I wouldn't be able to go away on business for a while." He said. "I have some news for you." He said, then he noticed Roger standing there. "Hi Roger, how are you?"

"I'm good Mr. Keaton." Roger said politely. "I should probably be heading home. Bye Mr. Keaton. Bye Kelly." He said as he kissed her cheek and walked out the door. Mr. Keaton looked at Kelly.

"We're dating dad." Kelly said laughing.

"Since when?" He asked.

"About two weeks." She said smiling.

"He's a good boy, I'm happy for you." He said hugging her again. "Your mother would have loved it." He said with a sad smile. "Come on I need to talk to you." He said leading her into the living room.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" She asked sitting on the couch.

"Kelly, you know that I loved your mother more than anything, right?" He asked sitting down next to her. Kelly nodded. "But people have to move on eventually."

"What are you trying to say?" She asked even though she already knew where this was going.

"I met someone." Mr. Keaton said. "It's getting pretty serious and I want you to meet her." Kelly felt the tears burning in her eyes. "Kelly, I want you to know that I will always love your mother and that Ann is not trying to replace her." Mr. Keaton said placing his hand on her shoulder. Kelly stood up and ran out of the house.

* * *

Roger was sitting in his room playing his guitar when he heard the phone ring. He ignored it knowing that it probably wasn't for him.

"Roger." He hears his mother call from downstairs. Roger got up and went downstairs.

"Yeah?" He asked standing at the foot of the steps.

"Is Kelly here?" She asked holding the phone.

"No, I took her back to her house a little while ago. Why?" He asked starting to get really worried.

"Her father just called he said that she got really upset and ran out of the house. Do you know where else she would have gone?" She asked. He could tell that his mother was worried. Roger thought about it for a minute before realizing where she was.

"Yeah I know where she is. Let me go get her and I'll bring her back here ok?" He asked as he pulled on his tennis shoes.

"Roger, do you want me to drive you?" She asked.

"No, I can walk. I'll be back as soon as I can ok?" He said running out the door not even waiting for an answer. Twenty five minutes later he was walking into Holy Trinity cemetery. He found Kelly sitting by her mother's grave crying. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. Kelly buried her face in his chest and sobbed uncontrollably.

"What happened?" He asked gently stroking her hair.

"My dad met someone." She said crying. Roger didn't know what to say so he just sat there holding her until she calmed down. When she finally got herself under control he gently lifted her chin up so that she was looking at him. "It doesn't mean that he doesn't love your mom. But he's allowed to move on and find happiness." He said softly, praying that she didn't take that the wrong way. Kelly stood up angrily.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" She yelled. "She wasn't supposed to die! They were supposed to grow old together!" She yelled before collapsing onto the ground.

"I know." He said wrapping his arms around her once again. "But that's what happened Kelly and we can't change that. I wish I could but I can't." He said wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"I miss her so much." She cried.

"I know you do. We all do." He said. "Just give you dad a chance. I'm not saying that you have to like this woman. But don't hate her before you even meet her." Kelly didn't say a word, she just nodded. Roger stood up and gently helped her up with him. "Come on let's go back to my house." He said. Kelly nodded but before they walked away she walked back to her mother's headstone and knelt before it.

"I love you mom." She said as she kissed her fingers and touched the headstone. When she walked back over to him Roger wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they quietly walked back to his house.

* * *

When they walked into the house Roger told Kelly to go upstairs and lay down in his room while he talked to his mother. Mrs. Davis was pacing in the living room while her husband tried calming her down. She ran over to Roger when he walked into the room.

"Roger where's Kelly?" She asked.

"She's upstairs in my room. She's really upset can she just sleep in there tonight? I promise nothing will happen." He asked his parents.

"That's fine we trust you." His father said. "But what happened?"

"Kelly's dad met someone. And she got really upset and went to her mother's grave." Roger said looking at the ground.

"Oh my." Mrs. Davis said. "I take it she didn't handle that well."

"I don't think she ever got over her mom and now it's like her dad's trying to replace her mother." Roger said. "And it doesn't help that he's never home either."

"Why don't you go upstairs and make sure Kelly's ok." Mr. Davis said. Roger nodded and hurried out of the living room and up the stairs. When Roger walked into the bedroom Kelly was curled up into a ball on his bed. Roger kicked his shoes off and crawled into bed next to her. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

"No matter what I'll always be here for you Kelly, I promise." He whispered. Kelly nodded and scooted closer to him. Within minutes they were both sound asleep.

A/N: I know that I said this would be up last night but I had some family issues so I didn't get a chance to finish it. I would just like to thank everyone who reviewed so far. I think you guys rock! I love to hear what you guys think so keep reviewing. I'll probably have the next chapter up sometime tomorrow.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	5. Meeting Ann

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what's mine and you know what's Jonathon's.

The day had finally arrived when Kelly would meet the infamous Ann. She had promised Roger that she would give Ann a chance. So she sat up in her bedroom and waited for Ann to get there. She looked up when she heard her door open and saw Roger standing there.

"Roger what are you doing here?" She asked running up to hug him.

"Your dad called and said he thought you might be more comfortable if I came over. So here I am." He said lifting her off the ground. Kelly giggled and kissed him.

"I'm so glad that you're here." She said when he put her down. "I really don't want to do this."

"I know. But please just give her a chance." Roger said. They heard a knock at the door.

"Kelly can you come downstairs now?" He asked through the door. They walked downstairs and saw a woman with long brown hair in her forties standing there.

"Kelly I want you to meet Ann. Ann this is my daughter Kelly." Mr. Keaton said making introductions.

"It's nice to meet you Kelly." Ann said sticking out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too." Kelly said shaking her hand.

"Oh and this here is Roger, Kelly's boyfriend." Mr. Keaton said motioning to Roger.

"Nice to meet you Ann." Roger said shaking her hand.

"Well why don't we all go eat." Mr. Keaton said ushering them into the dining room. They sat uncomfortably no one knowing what to say.

"So Kelly, your dad tells me that you're quite the photographer." Ann said.

"I'm not Annie Leibowitz but my teacher says I'm good." Kelly said.

"Maybe you could show me some of your stuff sometime." Ann said.

"Ok. There mainly of my friends and their families." Kelly said looking at Roger.

"Well I'm sure that their amazing." Ann said smiling. Kelly smiled back. She honestly liked Ann. It would take some getting used to, but she was willing to try. "So Roger what kind of hobbies do you have?" Ann asked.

"I play guitar and write songs. Their not the best but I think there good." Roger said.

"Why kind of music do you like?" Ann asked.

"The Beatles, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Who, Eric Clapton and I'll just stop there." Roger said laughing.

"I see you like rock." Ann said laughing. "I have to admit The Beatles are my band. It's such a shame about John."

"Yeah." Roger said. "So what do you do?"

"I work in sales at the same company that Andrew works in." She said.

"That's cool." Roger said as the table fell into another awkward silence.

"Ann has a son that's about a year older than you two. His name is Nick." Mr. Keaton said.

"Really? Does he go to school nearby?" Roger asked.

"No. I actually just got transferred here at the beginning of the summer. He's back in Boston with his father." Ann said. "But he's moving out here at the beginning of August."

"That's coo." Kelly said. "Is he going to Scarsdale High?"

"Yep. He'll be a junior." Ann said smiling. "Maybe you guys could show him around when he gets here."

"That would be great. We'd love to." Roger said as they finished their meal.

* * *

Roger and Kelly were sitting in his room listening to records.

"So Ann seemed really cool." Roger said as he put on Madman Across The Water by Elton John and sitting down next to her.

"Yeah she seemed nice." Kelly said staring off into space.

"Then what's wrong?" Roger asked.

"My dad said he's going to be cutting back his business trips. I know it's because of Ann. Why wasn't I enough to get him to stay home?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

"Well maybe Ann will get him to see all the mistakes he's been making and get him to change." Roger said putting an arm around her.

"Maybe." She said quietly. When Tiny Dancer came on Roger pulled Kelly to her feet. "What are you doing?" She asked laughing.

"Dancing with my girlfriend." He said smiling and wrapping his arms around her waist. Kelly smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. When the song ended he leaned down and gently kissed her. "Your amazing Roger." She said smiling up at him.

"Nope. You're amazing." He said smiling. "I should probably take you back home now." He said looking at the clock.

"Ok." She said as he led her out of his room. As they walked to Kelly's house Roger wrapped his arms around her.

"My mom was talking about our birthday today." He said smiling down at her.

"Oh god. What does she have planned?" Kelly asked laughing.

"Well I she wants it to be one big combined party. I think she might invite all of Scarsdale." He said laughing.

"Oh god." Kelly said as they walked to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said kissing him.

"Ok." He said kissing her one last time before leaving. Kelly walked quietly into her house. She heard her dad and Ann talking quietly in the living room.

"Think about how she'll feel." She heard Ann say. "She just met me today."

"She loved you." Kelly heard her dad say.

"No, she liked me. We need time to get to know each other." Ann said. "We can't rush into things." Kelly walked into the room.

"Hi Kelly." Ann said.

"Hi." She said. "What were you guys talking about?"

"I asked Ann to move in." Her father said.

"Kelly, I just want you to know that nothing has been decided." Ann said shooting a glare at Mr. Keaton.

"What do you think about Ann moving in with us?" He asked.

"If that's what you want, fine." Kelly said quickly before rushing out of the room.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to do this yet." Ann said getting up and following her. She gently knocked on Kelly's bedroom door. "Kelly can I come in?" Kelly opened the door and moved to the side. Ann stepped in and looked around. She had pictures everywhere. There were a bunch of pictures of a group of kids. Roger and Kelly among them. The other half of the pictures were either of Roger or of Roger and Kelly. Besides the pictures there were a bunch of band posters. Ann smiled as she looked around.

"I'm sorry about that Kelly." Ann said sitting down at the desk. "I know your not ready for this. Your father is just being so stubborn right now." She sighed.

"Do you love him?" Kelly asked sitting down on the bed.

"Yes." Ann said.

"I guess I could get used to it." Kelly said looking at the floor. Ann got up and sat next to her.

"Kelly are you sure?" Ann asked. "If your not ready for this, we would totally understand."

"It'll just take some getting used to." Kelly said.

"You're sure?" Ann asked one last time. Kelly nodded and Ann hugged her. "As long as your sure."

"I am." Kelly said.

"I'm going to go down and talk to your father. Are you coming?" Ann asked standing up.

"Do you think it would be alright if I went over Roger's for a little bit?" Kelly asked.

"That's fine. Don't stay too late though." Ann said walking out the door.

* * *

Kelly opened the door to the Davis house and realized that no one was up. She never knocked, she was always told that she never needed to knock. She wonder if Roger was asleep as she walked up the stairs but when she heard the soft music coming from the room she knew he was up. She opened his door and saw he was laying on his bed with his fender.

"What are you doing here?" Roger asked as he set the fender down.

"I just needed to get out of my house for a little bit." Kelly said climbing on the bed next to him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"What happened?" Roger asked looking down at her.

"My dad asked Ann to move in and she said yes." Kelly said.

"What an ass." Roger said wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm not mad. I like Ann, I mean I really didn't think that she would move in so soon but I'm not really mad about it." Kelly said looking up at him. "Am I betraying my mom?"

"No. Your mom knows how much you love and how much you miss her." Roger said stroking her hair. Kelly nodded.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" She asked.

"Not at all." Roger said. "But you should probably call your dad and tell him." Kelly nodded and walked out of the room. She came back less then five minutes later and climbed back into bed.

"Night baby." Roger said leaning down and kissing her.

"Night Roger." Kelly said as she closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest. They were asleep with in minutes.

A/N: Once again I am sorry about the delay. Writers block is a bitch. Hope you all liked it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Things are probably going to be moving faster from now on. So heads up. I'll try to make it clear how much time has passed. Remember to review! I love your feedback.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	6. Noisy Mufflers and Babies

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon and what belongs to me.

17 year old Kelly quickly pulled out of her driveway and sped off to school. She had had to take Ann to a doctors appointment and was going in to school late. As she drove down the street she heard her muffler roar. Kelly cringed.

"Gotta have Billy fix that for me." She said to herself, then she looked in the mirror and saw flashing blue and red lights. "Fuck." She muttered to herself. She pulled over and rolled down the window.

"License and registration please." The officer asked. Kelly got the papers out of her purse and handed them to the officer.

"What did I do wrong?" Kelly asked.

"Did you realize that your muffler is loud?" He asked not looking at her. Kelly's mouth droped.

"Is it a fucking crime to drive a shitty car?" Kelly asked shocked.

"Watch your mouth miss." The officer said handing her a slip of paper.

"A hundred and fifty dollars?" Kelly yelled.

"You should really get that fixed." The officer said walking away.

"Pig." She muttered under her breathe. The officer stopped and turned around.

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"Have a good day officer." She smiled as she rolled up her window and drove off.

* * *

Kelly walked into school fuming. The bell to lunch was about to ring so she walked to her locker. She opened her locker and started throwing the books into the locker.

"What did those books ever do to you?" Kelly looked up to see Roger smirking as he leaned up against the row of lockers. Kelly got up and kissed him before handing him the ticket.

"Why did you get a ticket?" He asked looking at the ticket.

"Because my muffler is too loud." She said slamming her locker shut.

"That's the stupidest thing that I've ever heard." He said wrapping an arm around her as they walked to lunch.

"And I wouldn't have even been driving if my dad hadn't backed out of going to the doctors with Ann." Kelly said.

"How is she?" Roger asked.

"She'll be ok. She just has to be really careful." Kelly said as they stood in line.

"I can't believe she's pregnant. I mean they just got married last month." Roger said.

"Your telling me. You should have seen Nick's face when we found out. I thought he was going to have a stroke." Kelly said laughing as she pulled out her money. Roger pushed her hand away and paid for both their lunches.

"Roger I can buy my own lunch." She said as they walked to their table.

"Save your money you're going to need it for that ticket." Roger said laughing as they sat down at the table. Kelly glared at him and smacked his chest.

"Jerk." She said trying to hide the smile that was creeping onto her face. Roger leaned forward and kissed her.

"Dude, that's my sister." Nick said sitting down. Kelly and Roger pulled away and rolled their eyes. "So how's mom?"

"Good. She has to be really careful because of her age but her and the baby should be fine." Kelly said eating one of her fries.

"So what was his excuse this time?" Nick asked taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Something came up at the office in San Francisco and he just had to go." Kelly said rolling her eyes.

"What's he going to do when the baby is born?" He asked.

"He'll probably cut back on the trips for awhile but that won't last long." Kelly said. Roger could tell that Nick and Kelly were getting upset so he decided to change the subject.

"So guess who got a ticket?" Roger said laughing. Nick looked at Kelly and smirked.

"What did you do this time?" He asked. "Let me guess another speeding ticket."

"No." She said sticking her tongue out at him. "The pulled me over because my muffler was too loud." Nick burst out laughing.

"I told you that you needed to get that piece of shit car of yours fixed." Nick said laughing.

"Billy hasn't had time to fix it. And I don't drive it that much, I didn't think you could actually get a ticket for a noisy muffler." Kelly said.

"So how are you going to pay for it?" Nick asked laughing.

"I have a job." Kelly said.

"That pays you the least amount of money they are allowed to by law." Nick laughed.

"Well I have a little bit of money saved so it shouldn't be a problem." Kelly said as the bell rang and they headed off to class. Nick headed off to calculus while Kelly and Roger headed to photography. Kelly was the only reason that he took that class and the only reason that he was passing it. They sat in their desks and waited for the teacher to dismiss them to go finish their projects. The teacher past back some of the old projects.

"Amazing job as usual Kelly." She said smiling at her. "Davis you are so lucky that you are dating my number one student." She said laughing as she gave him his project back. Kelly looked over at Rogers paper.

"B minus. Good job." She said kissing his cheek.

"Yeah, well if you hadn't helped me you would be looking at an F." He said laughing.

"I don't know why you took this class." Kelly laughing as she got up to go into the dark room.

"Oh there are definite advantages to this class." Roger said wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

"Roger." Kelly warned. Roger laughed and kissed her neck. "Roger." She said once again but less stern. The door opened and Mark stood there shaking his head.

"God Roger you really have a one track mind don't you?" Mark said as he walked over to one of the stations and setting up his equipment.

"Yeah your one to talk Cohen." Roger said as he walked over to the station next to Kelly.

"I mean it Roger I need to get this finished." Kelly said. Roger sighed and kissed her temple.

"Fine. I'll just be over here lonely trying to get my work done." He pouted.

"I think you'll live." Mark said laughing.

"Wasn't talking to you Mark." Roger grumbled.

"Aw is poor Roger sexually frustrated?" Mark asked laughing.

"Mark!" Kelly shrieked.

"I'm going to get you for that Cohen." Roger said.

"Oh I'm scared." Mark said as they went about their work.

* * *

Kelly walked into her house after school and threw her book bag down by the door. She had to be at work in an hour and a half and all she wanted to do right now was take a nap. She walked into the living room and saw Ann asleep on the couch. She smiled as she covered her with a quilt. Ann stirred and woke up.

"How was school?" She asked sitting up.

"It was good." Kelly said smiling and sitting in the recliner. "I got my photography project back today."

"Let me guess, you go an A plus." Ann said smiling at her stepdaughter.

"Yeah." Kelly said smiling. "I got a ticket on the way to school."

"What? Why?" Ann asked. She knew that Kelly had a nasty habit of speeding sometimes. "Not another speeding ticket."

"No they said that my muffler was too loud." Kelly said.

"That's just ridiculous. I'm calling them tomorrow. There is no way that you are paying that." Ann said getting up. "But until we get your car fixed why don't you use my car?"

"Won't you need it?" Kelly asked.

"It'll be fine. It's not like you actually drive that much. Usually Roger is carting you around." Ann said laughing.

"We're trying to conserve gas." Kelly said smiling.

"Oh well how nice of you." Ann said walking into the kitchen. Kelly followed her. "Do you have to work tonight?"

"Yep. I get off at nine and then I'm going to hang out at Roger's after work." Kelly said.

"Ok. No spending the night." Ann said as she pulled out pots and pans to make dinner.

"I swear nothing happens." Kelly said sitting down at the table.

"I believe you it's just that I would rather not tempt fate." Ann said.

"Ok. So how are you feeling?" Kelly asked.

"Well I never thought I would be forty and pregnant." Ann said.

"Remember the doctor said that you have to take it easy." Kelly said. Ann smiled at her.

"I will I promise." She said walking up to her and kissing her head.

"Ok. I'm going to go lay down before I have to go to work." Kelly said getting up and hugging her.

"Ok. I'll see you at ten." Ann said.

"Eleven?" Kelly asked hopefully.

"Not a minute later." Ann said. Kelly smiled and hugged her again.

* * *

Kelly walked into Roger's bedroom and collapsed on his bed next to him.

"Work went well?" He asked kissing her.

"It sucked." Kelly said. "The customers were rude and when I walked the theaters I caught people having sex." Kelly said cringing.

"I'm sorry." Roger said kissing her forehead. "You smell like burnt popcorn." He said as he wrinkled his nose. Kelly glared at him. "But it smells wonderful on you."

"Yeah, whatever nice save." Kelly said. She stayed there until 10:50 before getting up to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She said kissing him. "Are you picking me up?"

"Of course." He said smiling.

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then." She said kissing him one last time. When Kelly pulled into the driveway she noticed that Nick's car wasn't there. 'must be out with one of his skanks' she thought as she got out of the car. She went into the living room to tell Ann that she was home. When she went into the living room she saw Ann passed out on the floor. Kelly ran over to her.

"Ann!" She screamed. She got up and ran to the phone and dialed 911 before going back to Ann's side.

A/N: Well there's another chapter down. It's been about a year since the last chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You rock! I hope that you liked this chapter. Remember to review. This chapter is dedicated to Renthead621, she knows why. LOL. I'll update tomorrow.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	7. A New Life And Tensions Rise

Disclaimer: I don't own it. You know that.

Roger rushed into the waiting room of the emergency room with his parents a few steps behind him. He spotted Kelly in the corner and rushed over to her.

"What happened?" He asked wrapping his arms around her.

"I don't know when I came home she was on the floor." Kelly said crying into his chest. "They won't tell me anything."

"Don't worry sweetie I'll go try finding something out." Mrs. Davis said kissing her head before heading over to the desk.

"I don't know where Nick is and I can't get a hold of my dad." Kelly said crying.

"Becca went to go find Nick and I'm going to try getting a hold of your father." Mr. Davis said.

"Thanks dad." Roger said as his father walked away.

"Roger I couldn't handle it if something happened to her or the baby." Kelly said sobbing.

"Everything will be fine." Roger said trying to calm her down. "The doctors are with her right now." Kelly didn't say anything just kept crying into his chest. Twenty minutes later Nick came rushing into the waiting room.

"What happened?" He said rushing over to them.

"I don't know." Kelly said crying as he hugged her. "Mrs. Davis is still trying to get them to tell us something."

"It's going to be ok." Nick said with tears in his eyes. "Mom's a fighter she won't let anything happen to her or the baby."

"I hope your right." Kelly cried.

"I'm always right Kel, you should know that by now." Nick said trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

"You're such an ass." Kelly said trying to smile. Nick just smiled and kissed her forehead. Mrs. Davis rushed back over to them.

"Oh thank god that you're here Nick." Mrs. Davis said hugging him. "I just talked to the doctor."

"What happened?" Roger asked holding Kelly.

"She has gestational diabetes. Since they didn't catch it before she hasn't been watching what she's eating or been on the medication. They want to keep her in the hospital for the rest of the pregnancy because she's damaged her kidneys."

"Can we see her?" Nick asked holding back tears.

"Yes. You and Kelly go ahead, we'll stay out here and wait." Mrs. Davis said. Kelly and Nick followed a nurse down the hall as she led them to Ann's room. When they walked in there Ann's eyes were closed. She woke up when she heard them come in.

"Hi mom." Nick said walking over to the bed and kissing her forehead.

"How do you feel?" Kelly asked pulling up a chair and taking her hand in hers.

"I feel ok. Just a little tired." She said trying to smile. "I'm sorry that I scared you kids."

"It's ok." Kelly said softly.

"Well it looks like we're going to have to get used to this place." Ann said. "I'm going to be here for the next five months."

"I'm going to kill that doctor of yours." Nick said angrily.

"Nick, everything is going to be fine. The baby is still ok and I'll be ok to." She said squeezing his hand. Nick smiled.

"I know mom." He said. Ann looked over at Kelly and saw tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ann asked. "Aside from the obvious." She said trying to make a joke.

"I hate hospitals." Kelly said quietly and she looked down. Ann knew what she was talking about. Ann knew that Kelly had spent so much time in this very hospital watching as her mother faded away. Ann reached out and pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"It's not like that this time, baby girl." Ann said. Kelly nodded and reached out and hugged her. "It'll be ok. I promise." Ann said with tears in her eyes to.

"Women." Nick said trying to lighten the mood.

"Nicholas." Ann said laughing.

"It's Nick." He said smiling.

"Ok, Nicholas." Ann said smiling. "You two should be getting home, you have school in the morning."

"You shouldn't be by yourself mom." Nick said. "How about we stay the night."

"They won't let the both of you stay." Ann said.

"Nick can stay." Kelly said.

"I don't want you home alone." Ann said.

"I'll stay at Roger's." Kelly said. She noticed Ann giving her a look. "I'll sleep in Becca's room." Ann sighed.

"Ok. But you are both going to school tomorrow." Ann said sternly.

"Ok. I promise I'll go to school." Kelly said hugging her goodbye. "I'll come by right after school, ok?" Ann nodded. "I love you Ann." Kelly whispered.

"I love you too." Ann said with tears in her eyes. Kelly walked around and hugged Nick.

"I'll see you tomorrow Nicky." Kelly said. Nick winced at the nickname.

"Ok, Kellbell." He said smirking. Kelly glared at him before laughing and walking out of the room.

* * *

When Kelly walked into the waiting room the Davis' rushed up to her.

"How is she?" Mrs. Davis asked.

"She seems ok. She's handling having to stay here good." Kelly said. "Did you get a hold of my dad?"

"Yes, he's catching the first plan back tonight." Mr. Davis said. Kelly nodded. "Where's Nick?"

"He's going to stay with her tonight, do you mind if I spend the night at your house?" Kelly asked.

"You never have to ask." Mrs. Davis said. "Come on let's get home." She said leading everyone out.

* * *

Roger and Kelly got into his car while his parents got into theirs.

"Do you want me to stop at your house so you can pick up some clothes?" He asked reaching out and holding her hand.

"Yeah. That would be good." She said staring out the window.

"How are you holding up?" He asked bringing her hand up and kissing it.

"I've been better." She said.

"Ann and the baby will be fine. That's why their keeping her in the hospital." Roger said pulling into the driveway.

"I know, I'm just scared." Kelly said wiping her eyes. Roger put the car in park and pulled her over to him.

"It's ok to be scared, but you have to be positive about it." Roger said. Kelly nodded and they got out of the car and walked into her house. Kelly threw some clothes into a bag and grabbed a picture off her nightstand. It was a picture of Kelly, Ann, Nick, and her father the day Ann and her dad got married. Kelly smiled at the picture. Ann marrying her dad was one of the best things that had happened to her. Ann was always there for her and she got a brother too. Kelly put the picture in her bag and went downstairs where Roger was waiting for her.

"You ready?" He asked wrapping his arm around her. Kelly nodded and followed him out to the car. When they got to Roger's house, Kelly went into the bathroom to change. Roger was sitting on his bed when his father walked in and sat next to him.

"Roger we need to talk." Mr. Davis.

"Dad we're just going to sleep. I don't want her to be alone right now." Roger said knowing what his dad wanted to talk about.

"I know that. But after tonight she sleeps in Billy's old room or in Becca's room." Mr. Davis said.

"We wouldn't do anything dad." Roger said. "We haven't done anything."

"How long have you two been going out now?" He asked.

"About a year and half." Roger said.

"You haven't done anything?" His dad asked raising his eyebrows.

"We've made out but that's it." Roger said. Mr. Davis smiled at his son.

"I'm proud of you." He said patting his back. "But I mean it, after tonight no more sleeping in the same bed." Roger nodded and his father said goodnight and life. Kelly walked in a few minutes later.

"Hey." He said standing up and wrapped his arms around her. "You feeling better now?"

"Yeah. Your right I need to think positive. I can't think that everything is going to turn out bad." She said leaning up and kissing him.

"What can I say? I'm a very smart man." He said grinning. Kelly laughed and rolled her eyes.

"You've been hanging around my brother way too much." She said wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Is it weird calling him your brother?" Roger asked as they climbed into his bed.

"What do you mean?" Kelly asked turning around to face him.

"I don't know. Is it weird to call him your brother even though technically he's not?" He asked.

"Blood doesn't always mean family." She said. "We don't share the same blood but he's been nothing but a brother since he came, so I call him my brother because that's what he is." She said. Roger smiled and wrapped an arm around her.

"Ann and Nick have really been good for you, haven't they?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's the first time I've had a family since my mom." Kelly said. Roger opened his mouth to say something but Kelly cut him off. "I know that I have your family and the Johnson's, Cohen's, and Coffin's. Everyone has been so wonderful since my mom but with Ann and Nick it's different." Kelly said. Roger nodded and pulled her close.

"You deserve it Kelly." He said kissing her.

"We should probably get to sleep we have school tomorrow." She said smiling.

"You're going?" He asked. Kelly nodded.

"Ann said me and Nick had to. We're going to go back to the hospital tomorrow after school." She said yawning. Roger kissed her forehead.

"Go to sleep." He whispered. Kelly nodded and shifted in his arms before falling asleep. When he was sure that she was asleep he kissed he one last time.

"I love you." He whispered before falling asleep.

* * *

Five months later Kelly was sitting talking to Maureen and Becca when the phone in the phone in the classroom rang. No one paid much attention as the teacher got up and answered it. She hung up a minute later.

"Kelly they want you to go to the main office." The teacher said. "Take your things with you." Kelly looked at Maureen and Becca.

"Ann." She whispered before picking up her stuff. Before she left she turned to Becca.

"Tell Roger." She said. Becca nodded and Kelly rushed out of the room. When she got to the office Nick was already there.

"Come on we got to go." He said grabbing her hand and running out of the school building.

"She's having the baby?" Kelly asked as they got into the car.

"Her water broke twenty minutes ago." He said as he sped out of the parking lot.

"Nick slow down." Kelly yelled.

"Sorry I just want to get there." Nick said slowing down a bit.

"Yeah well I don't want to get there by way of paramedics." She said rolling her eyes. She couldn't blame him though, she was just as excited to meet her new baby brother or sister. Ten minutes later they were running into the maternity ward. The nurse had them wait in the family waiting room promising to come get them when the baby was born. Twenty minutes later the door opened to reveal Roger.

"Roger you're supposed to be in school." She said getting up and placing her hands on her hips.

"I know but I figured my time would be better spent here." He laughed wrapping his arms around her waist.

"When you get grounded don't blame me." She said wrapping her arms around his neck.

"My mom is the one who called me out." He said smirking before leaning down and kissing her.

"The maternity ward is for delivering babies not making them." Nick said from behind. Kelly turned around and glared at him.

"Jealous?" She said as Roger led her over to a chair and pulled her on to his lap.

"I get girls all the time." Nick said smirking.

"Ok I really don't want to hear about this." Roger said shaking his head.

"Now who's jealous?" Nick said.

Roger was about to say something when the door opened and the nurse came in.

"You have a brother." She said smiling. "Do you want to see him?" Everyone nodded and followed him to Ann's room. When they got there she was holding a little blue bundle.

"Everyone meet Nathan Douglas Keaton." Ann said smiling.

"Can I hold him?" Kelly asked. Ann nodded and motioned for her to come over. Kelly pulled up a chair next to the bed and carefully took the baby out of Ann's arms.

"Hey there little man." Kelly said smiling at her baby brother. "I'm your big sister Kelly." Nick laughed.

"That sounded like a Barbie commercial." He said laughing. Roger burst out laughing too. Kelly glared at both of them.

"Don't listen to them their morons." She said looking down at the baby.

"Hey!" Roger and Nick yelled.

"Hush. You'll make the baby cry." Ann scolded.

"Where's my dad?" Kelly asked looking around the room.

"There was an emergency he left last night." Ann said looking at her hands. "He should be back soon." Kelly watched as Roger and Nick visibly got angry.

"Ass." Roger muttered. Kelly shot him a look that said now's not the time. He shook his head but stayed quiet.

"I'm sorry." Kelly said as she handed the baby back to Ann.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Ann said. The door opened and the nurse came back in.

"I'm going to have to ask you to step out into the hallway for a little bit." The nurse said. Everyone got up and hugged Ann before walking out into the hallway. Kelly went to go get sodas for them leaving Roger and Nick standing there. Five minutes later Andrew Keaton came rushing down the hallway.

"Is she ok? Did she have the baby?" He asked.

"Yeah. About an hour ago, you would have known that had you been here." Nick said.

"Don't start that with me. I need to do my job so that there's food on the table for you to eat." Mr. Keaton said.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You know full well that you could ask to do less traveling. Do you even care that your wife just gave birth to your child with no one there for her?" Nick yelled. "Is that what happened with Kelly's mom too. Did she have to suffer alone because you couldn't handle it?"

"Don't talk about things you know nothing about." He yelled back. Nick and Mr. Keaton were inches apart.

"Stop it!" Roger yelled. "Ann and Kelly don't need this right now. Don't you think they've been through enough?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Mr. Keaton asked.

"You know exactly what that means." Roger said. "Don't act like you deserve father or husband of the year. You don't. You haven't been there for any of your family. You fucking left two hours after Kelly buried her mother and you've barley been here when Ann needed you the most." Roger said glaring at him. "I don't want them anymore upset then they already are. So why don't you go in there and see your wife and kid." Mr. Keaton said nothing but walked into the room.

"Thanks." Nick said.

"No problem." Roger said leaning against the wall. "You were right though."

"About what?" Nick asked.

"When Kelly's mom got sick he was never there. My mom and all the other mom's were the ones that took care of her when she got sick. Especially at the end." Roger said looking at the ground. "They day they buried her he left on a business trip and didn't come back for a month."

"Prick." Nick said clenching his fists.

"It's not worth upsetting Kelly and your mom." Roger said. "He might be a prick but he's the reason you have a brother and a sister now."

"Your right." Nick said. Kelly came back a minute later with sodas.

"Here you go guys." Kelly said smiling.

"Your dad's in there now." Roger said. He looked at Nick and shot him a look saying not to say anything about earlier. Nick nodded.

"You can come back in now." The nurse said leaving. They filed back into the room. There was a palpable tension between the boys and Mr. Keaton. But everyone chose to ignore it and celebrate the new life that had just come into the world.

A/N: That's a long chapter. I hope you liked it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys are amazing. Remember to review! I love hearing what you think. Next chapter will be up tomorrow night sometime.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	8. A Special Night

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent.

Roger wandered through the supermarket picking up all the things that he would need for that night. Today was Kelly and Roger's two year anniversary and he wanted everything to be perfect. His parents had go out of town to visit his grandparents, Becca would be at the Cohen's helping Cindy pack for college, and Billy was… well he didn't really know where is older brother had wondered off to but the point was he had the house all to himself. He quickly finished shopping and stood in the checkout line.

"Roger?" Roger turned around and saw Mrs. Coffin standing there.

"Hey Mrs. Coffin." Roger said unloading his cart.

"So what's all this?" Mrs. Coffin asked with a knowing smile.

"I'm making Kelly dinner tonight. It's our two year anniversary." Roger said smiling.

"I didn't know you could cook." Mrs. Coffin said laughing as Roger paid the clerk.

"I don't really but I have the recipe how hard can it be?" Roger said putting the bags in the cart.

"Roger maybe you should come by my house and let me help you." Mrs. Coffin said trying not to laugh. It was sweet what he was trying to do but she had a feeling that if left to his own devices Roger might end up giving them both food poisoning.

"Are you sure?" Roger asked relived he was terrified of cooking with his luck he'd burn the house down.

"Of course." She said smiling as they walked out of the store.

* * *

"Roger, why don't you just go hang out with Benny and let me do this?" Mrs. Coffin said finally realizing that Roger was a lost cause cooking wise.

"Are you sure? I think I'm doing a really good job." Roger said stirring a pot that was about to catch on fire.

"Stick to music dear." She said ushering him out of the kitchen. Roger walked down to the basement where Benny and his older brother John were sitting.

"Mom finally threw you out?" Benny asked laughing. Roger glared at him and sat down on the couch.

"I thought I was doing ok." Roger shrugged. Benny and John laughed.

"Dude you burnt everything twice." John said.

"It's the thought that counts." Roger said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ok." Benny laughed.

"So how long have you and Kelly been going out?" John asked.

"Two years today." Roger said smiling.

"And your still virgins?" John asked shaking his head. Benny smacked the back of his brothers head while Roger's face turned red.

"Don't be an ass." Benny said glaring at his brother.

"Come on don't you think it's just a little bit funny that Cohen got some before Davis?" John asked laughing. Benny rolled his eyes and got up motioning to Roger to do the same.

"Sorry my brother is such an ass." Benny said as they walked into the kitchen.

"Roger everything's done and ready for you to take back to your house." Mrs. Coffin said with a smile.

"Thanks Mrs. Coffin." Roger said taking the food and walking out of the house. Mrs. Coffin had even written out very explicit directions for reheating it. Roger heard a knock on the door and went to answer. He opened the door and saw Mark standing there.

"Hey." Roger said moving aside and letting Mark in. Mark tossed him a paper bag.

"I just want you to know that I hate you." Mark said sitting down in the living room.

"Thanks man. I was just nervous." Roger said sitting down in the chair.

"Yeah well that was the first and last time I ever buy you condoms." Mark laughed. "So you guys sure your ready?"

"I'm ready. I think Kelly's ready." Roger said.

"Have you guys talked about it?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I mean we both said that we wanted to wait till we were both ready." Roger said. "And I'm ready."

"And if she's not?" Mark asked.

"Then nothing happens." Roger said simply. "I should start getting ready. I'll talk to you later."

"Have fun tonight." Marks said smiling as he walked out of the house. Roger walked up the stairs and to get ready. He put on a white button down and a nice pair of khakis. He walked back downstairs and put the dinner in the oven. When he heard the doorbell ring he felt his heart jump into his throat. He took a deep breathe before answering the door. When he opened the door he couldn't breathe. Kelly stood there in a simple black dress with her long blonde hair hanging down in beautiful curls.

"You look amazing." Roger said leaning down and kissing her. Kelly wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. When they pulled apart she smiled at him.

"You look good too." She said smiling. "Roger do you smell something burning?" Roger let go of her and ran into the kitchen.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." He said opening the oven. The chicken was burnt. "Son of a bitch." He said throwing the pan on the top of the stove. Kelly came in and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

"You cooked for me?" She asked smiling.

"I tried." He grumbled turning around to face her and wrapping his arms around her.

"It's the thought that counts." She said leaning up to kiss him. "Besides I was in a pizza sort of mood anyway." She said smiling.

"I wanted to do something romantic." Roger said.

"Pizzas romantic." Kelly said as her smile grew wider.

"I'll go make the phone call." Roger said smiling. An hour later they were sitting on the couch with pizza and pop watching an old movie on TV.

"I feel ridiculous." Roger said. Kelly lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him puzzled.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because were sitting here all dressed up eating pizza. Not exactly how I planned tonight." He said shrugging. Kelly smiled as she climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well there is something we can do about that." She whispered in his ear. Roger felt his heart speed up and his breath catcht in his throat.

"How?" He croaked. Kelly smiled before leaning in and kissing him. It started off as a small kiss but soon Kelly deepened it and Roger felt her hands reach for the buttons of his shirt.

"Kelly." Roger whispered pulled her hands away. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes." She whispered before kissing him again. This time it was Roger who deepened the kiss. Roger turned so that Kelly was lying down on the couch. Kelly quickly got his shirt off and threw it behind them. Roger slowly pulled away and looked into Kelly's eyes.

"I love you." He said barely above a whisper. Kelly smiled.

"I love you too." She whispered. Roger leaned down and placed a sweet kiss to her lips before gently taking her hands and leading her upstairs.

* * *

Billy walked into his parents house back from his freshman year of college. He smiled and threw his bag down and walked into the living room.

"Score." He said as he noticed the pizza on the table. He looked over and saw one of Roger's shirts on the floor. "What a fucking slob. Mom and dad leave for two days and the place is a mess." Billy muttered grabbing the shirt. He intended to rudely wake his brother up and make him clean the house while he sat and laughed. Billy barged into Roger's room, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Kelly and Roger were in bed with nothing but a sheet covering them. Roger pulled the cover around them.

"Get out." Roger yelled.

"Get dressed and get downstairs immediately." Billy yelled right back before storming out of the room.

"Oh my god." Kelly said pulling the sheet around her and getting off the bed. She pulled out the bottom drawer of her dresser and grabbed some clothes that she had left over the years. Roger grabbed his boxers off the floor and slipped them on.

"Are you ok?" He asked kneeling down next to her.

"Your brother just walked in on us, what do you think?" Kelly said standing up.

"He won't tell my parents." Roger said.

"Your sure about that?" Kelly asked slipping into her clothes.

"You do remember all the times we caught him with Barb?" Roger said smiling and pulling her closer to him.

"You are right about that." Kelly laughed and leaned up and kissed him. "Come on baby let's get this over with." She said pulling him to the door.

A/N: Another down. Hope you all liked it. I tried to keep it romantic since they were loosing their virginity to each other. Next chapter will be up tomorrow probably. Remember to review! I love your feedback. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Special thanks to Renthead621- Thanks for helping with the writers block. What would I do without you?

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	9. Anger Issues

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think you know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and what belongs to me.

Kelly sat at the kitchen table drinking much needed coffee. It was six in the morning and it was freezing, the last thing she wanted to do now was go to school. But it was January now and that meant only a few more months till graduation. She couldn't wait. The day after graduation she was they were going to New York. Mark and Benny would be there for the summer and then come back during breaks from Brown. Roger and Maureen were going to get jobs and pursue their own goals. For Roger it was starting a band and for Maureen it was pursuing her dreams of acting. As for herself Kelly had been accepted to NYU. She couldn't believe that she actually got in. Kelly was so deep in thought that she didn't hear Ann walk into the kitchen.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ann asked smiling as she sat down to the table.

"Just thinking about graduation and stuff. It's hard to believe it's almost here." Kelly said taking a sip of her coffee.

"I know. First Nick now you." She said sadly.

"I promise that I'll be back as much as I can." Kelly said. "Plus you and Nate could always come to the city to visit."

"I know. But I wish I could have kept you guys in this house forever." Ann said.

"Why don't you ask to get transferred to New York?" Kelly asked. "Then you could be closer to me and Nick."

"You know your father would never move to the city." Ann said.

"I didn't say anything about him coming with you." Kelly said.

"I love him Kelly. I know that he has his faults but I still love him." Ann said. Kelly sighed. She knew Ann loved her father and would never leave him.

"Well you jut have to promise to come out as much as you can." Kelly said getting up and hugging her.

"I will don't worry." Ann said smiling.

"Well I have to go get ready for school, Roger is going to be here soon." Kelly said.

"Ok. I'll tell you then he gets here." Ann said. Kelly nodded and left the room. Twenty minutes later Roger walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Ann is Kelly ready?" He asked. Ann looked at Roger and smiled.

"What do you think?" Ann asked laughing.

"I know. Stupid question right?" He laughed as he sat down.

"Well you know how she gets. You better prepare yourself you'll be living together soon enough." Ann said handing him some orange juice.

"Thanks." Roger said taking a drink.

"Have you eaten anything this morning?" Ann asked sitting back down at the table.

"Have you met my mother?" Roger asked laughing.

"Right. I guess it was my turn to ask a stupid question." Ann laughed. Kelly walked into the kitchen carrying Nate.

"Look who's up." Kelly said bouncing the baby on her hip. Ann got up and took the little boy from her.

"How's my favorite boy?" She asked.

"I wonder how Nick would feel about that." Kelly laughed. "We better get going, we're going to be late."

"If you could get out of the bathroom in under an hour then maybe we wouldn't be late." Roger laughed and stood up. Kelly stuck her tongue out at him before turning around to give Ann and Nate a hug.

"I'll see you guys later." Kelly said as they walked out of the kitchen. When they got into the car Roger leaned over and kissed her.

"I'm glad we're not fighting anymore." He said as he pulled the car out of the driveway.

"It's your decision and I can't control your life." She said. Roger grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"It's killing you to say that isn't it?" Roger said laughing.

"No it's not." Kelly said. "You don't want to go to college that's fine." She said as Roger pulled into the parking lot.

"It's something that I have to do." Roger said as they got out of the car. He quickly walked around the car and pulled Kelly close to him as they walked into school. They had fought for the past few weeks about Roger's decision not to go to college. But they got past it. It was their first fight in their nearly three year relationship. Kelly stopped at her locker and Roger wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Are you coming tonight." He asked kissing her cheek.

"Of course." She said turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I have to beat all the groupies off my sexy rock star boyfriend." She said smiling.

"They've got nothing compared to you." He said before kissing her. The bell rang and he pulled away.

"I'll see you in gym." He said smiling and kissing her one last time before he walked away.

* * *

Kelly was changing in the locker room when Maureen came bursting in late.

"I found my prom dress!" She said excitedly.

"That's great Mo." Kelly said laughing. Maureen had already found four other perfect dresses and it was February, by the time that prom rolled around in May she would probably have another four. Kelly noticed Gloria Anderson and her little ring of skanks go by.

"I know Roger's so gorgeous." Gloria said smiling as she past Maureen and Kelly. "I can't wait for the show tonight maybe we could get some one on one time." Maureen saw red.

"Listen Roger wouldn't waste his time on you, you stupid little bitch." Maureen said. "Especially since he already has a girlfriend." Maureen said standing inches away from her face. Gloria just laughed and walked out of the locker room. Maureen turned back to face Kelly and saw that she was laughing.

"How can you be laughing right now?" Maureen asked amazed.

"The way you just laid into her, you would have thought it was your boyfriend she was going after." Kelly said laughing.

"It's just I don't want anymore stress for you and Roger. You have enough of that already." Maureen said. Kelly hugged Maureen.

"You're the best Mo. I'll meet you in the gym." Kelly said as she walked out of the locker room. When Kelly walked into the gym she felt a pair of arms go around her waist and lift her into the air.

"Roger put me down." She squealed. She heard Roger laugh and set her down. She turned around and saw Roger standing there laughing. "Something funny?" She asked with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah. You." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Davis, Keaton cut it out and get over here." They heard their gym teacher yell. Roger let go of Kelly's waist and took her hand as they walked over to where their gym teacher was.

"See what trouble you get me into?" Roger asked laughing. Kelly rolled her eyes as they got to where everyone else was.

"Ok. We're going to be starting baseball next. I'm going to break you up into teams and your going to play a few innings of a game. I want to see what you all know and then we'll work on what needs to be worked on." The teacher said as he looked at his clipboard. "Ok, first team is Davis, Cohen Anderson…." He read off some other names. "The other team will be Coffin, Keaton, Johnson, female Davis…" Becca rolled her eyes when he said that. When the coach was done everyone separated into their respective teams. Kelly walked up to the makeshift pitchers mount and saw red. Gloria was standing there flirting with Roger. Roger looked uncomfortable but Gloria kept it up. Then she saw Gloria playfully slap Roger's chest and laugh before the coach said it was time to start. Kelly smiled when Gloria stepped up to the plate. She gripped the ball in her hand before throwing it. It hit Gloria in the leg. Gloria grabbed her leg and screamed.

"Keaton, go to the office right now!" The teacher yelled. Kelly rolled her eyes and walked out of the gym.

* * *

Roger was waiting outside of the office for Kelly to come out. She'd been in there for the last half hour. The door opened up and Kelly walked out, she looked pissed.

"Hey." Was all that Roger could think to say. "What happened?"

"I'm suspended the rest of today as well as tomorrow and the day after." Kelly said as she kept walking.

"Why did you do it?" Roger asked. Kelly stopped and looked at him.

"Because I got sick of that bitch always flirting with you." Kelly said. "And now I see her trying to pull the same thing with Mark just to piss of Mo." Roger wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

"She's just grasping for straws because she knows it will be a cold day in hell before I look at her the way I look at you." Roger said before leaning down and kissing her. Kelly wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I know that. Still doesn't mean that I'm going to let her flirt with my boyfriend right in front of me and not do anything about it." Kelly said. Roger was about to say something when the assistant principal walked up.

"Miss Keaton shouldn't you be on your way home?" She asked. Kelly rolled her eyes and looked at Roger.

"I'll see you later." She said before kissing him and walking away.

* * *

Roger stood outside Kelly's house waiting for someone to answer the door. Normally he would have just walked in but Roger had a feeling that Kelly was in trouble for the stunt during gym class. Ann finally opened the door.

"She's grounded." Ann said.

"Can I just talk to her for five minutes?" Roger begged.

"No Roger. I'm still letting her go to the concert tonight but until you pick her up she stays in her room." Ann said. "I mean it Roger, don't come back until eight." With that she closed her door. Roger sighed he wanted to tell Kelly about the song he'd written for her. Roger thought about his two options he could either climb up the trellis or he could wait until tonight and surprise her. But he already had another surprise planned for her tonight. With that he carefully made his way up the trellis. Roger thanked god that Kelly's window was cracked opened, he pushed it up and tumbled in.

"Roger what the hell?" Kelly said as she got up and helped him up off the floor.

"I wanted to tell you something and Ann wouldn't let me in." He said.

"If she heard you come in and comes up here she's going to kill us." Kelly said.

"She would have already been up here." Roger said smiling. Kelly couldn't help but smile back as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned down and kissed her. They stumbled backwards and fell back on the bed. After a few minutes Kelly pulled away.

"I thought you had something to tell me?" She asked smiling up at him.

"I did." He says before giving her a quick kiss. "We're playing a new song tonight."

"Really?" She asks still smiling.

"I wrote it for you." Roger says leaning down and kissing her.

"I want to hear it." Kelly says when he pulled away.

"You'll hear it tonight." He says. He noticed Kelly start to pout. "You'll hear it tonight." Kelly was about to argue when Ann knocked at the door. Kelly quickly pushed Roger off the bed and made him hide under the bed. Kelly rushed over to the door and opened it.

"Dinner's ready." Ann said.

"Ok. I'll be down in a minute." Kelly said. Ann laughed and walked into the room. She walked over to the bed and knelt down pulling up the covers.

"You're welcome to join us Roger." Ann said laughing. Roger just smiled sheepishly.

"How did you know that he was under there." Kelly asked.

"I was a teenager once Kelly." Ann said laughing. "And besides I heard him climb up the side of the house and fall through your window twenty minutes ago." Ann said as they followed her downstairs.

* * *

Roger stood off stage waiting to go on. He was so nervous he was almost shaking. It had taken him months to get the song right. He'd wanted to right a song for her for so long but nothing ever sounded right. He peeked around the curtain and saw her standing there with Maureen. She looked beautiful tonight, not that she ever looked anything but beautiful but tonight she took his breath away. Her hair was down and slightly curly as usual and she had on a baby blue tank top and tight low rise jeans.

"Roger we're about to go on." Roger turned around and nodded to his drummer. He took a breath to calm his nerves as they stepped out on stage. The crowd went nuts but all Roger could focus on was Kelly. They began their set and the only person that Roger saw in that crowd was Kelly. There was only one song left, the song that he wrote for her.

"This next song is called Rhyme and Reason. I wrote it for the love of my life, I hope you like it baby." He said into the microphone as the band started the song.

_It's so cold, let's take flight  
Well, we won't need a net, hold on tight  
A new ride is unveiled, and we don't need to try  
So there's no way to fail _

A desperate look in our eyes, holding on to one another  
Holding on for all our lives, just letting go to discover

It's okay to realize  
Being born into nothing and no one and nowhere, it's all a surprise

The desperate look in our eyes, holding on to one another  
Holding on for all our lives, just letting go to discover  
That love don't need a reason  
And love don't need a rhyme  
I'm standing here pleading  
And you just cover your eyes

Roger and Kelly kept each others line of sight for the entire time. Not once during the song did they look anywhere else.

* * *

Kelly ran into Roger's arms the minute that he stepped of stage. He wrapped his arms around her and spun her around.

"That was amazing." Kelly whispered.

"You liked it?" He asked setting her down.

"I loved it Roger." She said leaning up to kiss him.

"I have something for you. Come on." Roger said taking her hand and leading her out to the parking lot. He unlocked the car and grabbed something out of the glove compartment. He handed Kelly a small box.

"I know it's not much but I saw it and I thought of you." Roger said as he watched her open the box. It was a small celtic cross.

"It looks like my moms." Kelly whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah." Roger said quietly. Kelly looked up at him with tears coming down her face.

"I love it Roger." She said trying to hold in her tears. Roger wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." Kelly said looking up at him with a smile on her face.

A/N: I am so sorry that I didn't update at all this weekend. I caught up on some much needed sleep and I had a bad case of writers block. Thanks again Renthead621, I would be lost without you. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, you guys rock! There's only one more chapter of them living in Scarsdale and then it's off to New York and they'll finally catch up with Collins. I've been missing Collins. Remember to review, I adore hearing what you think. I'll update again either later on tonight or tomorrow.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	10. An Ending And A Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to me and what belongs to Jonathon Larson.

Kelly, Maureen, and Becca were getting ready at Kelly's house for prom.

"Becca, what are you going to do if you win prom queen and Roger wins prom king?" Maureen asked laughing. Becca rolled her eyes. Why did she have to been on prom court with her brother? That's just wrong and creepy on a number of different levels.

"I told everyone that if they vote for Roger they can't vote for me and vice versa." Becca said putting on her eye makeup. "Besides anyone who votes for Roger is most likely going to vote for Kelly."

"God I really hope they don't." Kelly groaned.

"You're telling me that you don't want to win?" Maureen asked. "It would be so cute because you won homecoming king and queen."

"I really don't. I don't need another fake crown." Kelly said putting on her shoes.

"Who'd you vote for?" Becca asked.

"Maureen." Kelly said standing up. "I know that a lot of people were voting for Roger and I thought it would be best to vote for Mo."

"Thank you." Becca said giving her a hug.

"Am I the only one that wants to win?" Maureen asked laughing.

"Yes." Becca and Kelly said at the same time. Ann came into the room and smiled at the three girls.

"You all look beautiful." She said taking a picture of them. Maureen wore a stunning dark blue dress, though it did cut a little too low in the chest area in Ann's opinion. But she had seen the other dresses that Maureen had bought and this one was tame in comparison. Becca wore a pink halter top dress, which looked wonderful on her. It was revealing but tasteful. Ann laughed, Becca never stood a chance with her father, Billy, and Roger all making sure that she had a dress that "appropriate" in their eyes. There had been many battles at the Davis house over her prom dress. Finally Ann's eyes landed on Kelly, the girl she had grown to call her daughter in the past four years. There weren't words for the way she looked. She wore a long lilac dress, it was strapless. Her blonde hair was half way pulled back and the rest fell in soft curls around her shoulders. Her make up was simple. Ann smiled as she hugged Kelly. "You look beautiful." Ann whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Thanks." Kelly said with tears in her eyes too. Ann pulled away.

"We can't ruin your makeup." Ann laughed as they wiped their eyes. "Are you girls ready? The guys are downstairs waiting." The girls nodded and followed Ann downstairs.

* * *

Roger heard the girls coming down the stairs and looked up. His breath caught and he lost all frame of thought when Kelly walked down the stairs. She looked absolutely stunning. Even saying that didn't do her justice. She stood in front of him smiling and he couldn't think of anything to say. Finally his brain started to function again.

"You look amazing." He said kissing her cheek. He pulled out her corsage and slipped it onto her wrist.

"Thanks. You look great too." Kelly said smiling. Roger looked good in his tux. His short bleach blonde hair was spiked up.

"Ok guys let's get the pictures done." Mrs. Davis said as all the kids lined up. Maureen and Mark were on one end, Roger and Kelly were in the middle, and Benny and Becca at the opposite end. Benny and Becca had agreed to go as friends though Kelly and Maureen were willing to bet money that there was something more. An hour later they were walking out the door. They had parked their cars at the hotel that prom was being held at and the limo would pick them up at the house and take them to the hotel. After prom they were going to head down to the beach for the after party in their own cars. The limo pulled up and they waved goodbye to their parents. When they got into the limo Roger popped a bottle of champagne.

"Where'd you get that?" Mark asked.

"My wonderful older brother." Roger said smiling. He poured champagne in everyone's glasses. Roger was the first to raise his glass. "To the class of 1986!" Everyone cheered and raised their glasses. Roger wrapped his arm around Kelly. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Can you believe that we're on our way to prom?" She asked.

"No. I still remember starting high school." Roger said.

"Do you remember the dance freshman year?" Kelly asked.

"How could I forget? It was when I realized that I liked you." He said leaning down and kissing her.

"Too bad it took you nearly nine months to act on it." Kelly laughed.

"Hey you can't blame me for being scared, I didn't want anything to ruin our friendship." Roger said pulling her closer to him. "And you knew you liked me months before and didn't do anything either."

"Will you two shut up?" Benny said rolling his eyes. "You two are together now so that's all that matters."

"Someone's cranky." Kelly said laughing. Soon enough they arrived at the hotel, they all piled out of the limo and made their way into the ball room of the hotel. They stood in line to get their pictures professionally taken before sitting down to eat. Roger reached out and pulled Kelly's chair closer to his.

"How about a dance?" he asked. Kelly smiled and stood up.

"Of course." She said. They got up and started dancing. They were having the time of their lives until trouble walked by.

"Roger I hope you'll save at least one dance for me." Gloria said smiling. Kelly felt her blood boil but before she said anything Roger spoke.

"Why don't you go bother someone else." Roger said. "I am not attracted to you. I never have and never will be attracted to you. So why don't you go and let me and my girlfriend get back to our dance." With that Roger turned around and continues to dance with Kelly. "What?"

"Nothing." She said as she kissed him. Roger held her tighter and they seemed to be glued to each other. Someone tapped Roger's shoulder.

"What?" He asked turning around and seeing Becca.

"We might have a problem." Becca said pointing behind Roger. Roger turned around and saw Gloria with her tongue shoved down Mark's throat.

"Shit." He said. "Where's Mo at?"

"Bathroom." Becca said. Roger breathed a sigh of relief as he started to walk over to save Mark. Before he could get there he saw Kelly go flying past him. It amazed him that she could be that fast in heels. He watched as Kelly shoved Gloria to the ground.

"Stay the hell of away from my boyfriend and Mark you filthy whore." Kelly yelled. She went to hit Gloria but Roger grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Baby she's not worth it." Roger said trying to calm her.

"Let me go." Kelly said calmly. That scared Roger. Before he could say anything else he saw brown curls go flying past him. Roger watched as Benny pulled Maureen back and a bunch of teachers ran over.

"What happened?" The principal asked.

"Gloria hit Maureen and Maureen was trying to defend herself." Becca said. Everyone else in the group nodded as the teachers escorted Gloria out of the room.

"You ok Mo?" Benny asked releasing her.

"She's so lucky." Maureen said still fuming.

"Come on Mo, let's go get you calmed down." Kelly said as she led Maureen away with Becca. Mark stood there stunned.

"Oh my god." Mark said sitting down in the nearest chair and putting his face in his hands. "I didn't do anything I swear."

"It's ok. Mo knows that. She's not pissed at you, she's pissed at Gloria." Benny said sitting down next to him.

"Yeah man. And she's also pissed for all the shit that Gloria's been doing to me and Kelly lately." Roger said. "She knows that you wouldn't have done that willingly." Mark just nodded and waited for the girls to come back.

* * *

"Maureen just take a couple of breaths, ok?" Becca said trying to calm her friend.

"Becca's right, let's all calm down and go spend the rest of the night with the guys that we love." Kelly said shooting a smirk in Becca's direction.

"Are you stupid? We've gone over this. Me and Benny are just friends." Becca said rolling her eyes. Kelly just smiled and let the subject drop as they walked out of the bathroom.

"Whatever you say Becca." Kelly said smiling as they left the batroom. Beca glared at her and rolled her eyes.

* * *

Benny looked up and saw the girls walking towards them.

"Here they come." Benny said nudging Mark. Mark jumped up and walked over to Maureen.

"I am so sorry" He said but Maureen cut him off.

"I know that you would never do that to me." Maureen said as she wrapped her arms around him and led him off towards the dance floor. Becca and Benny followed. Kelly looked at Roger and smiled. He just shook his head.

"What?" She asked laughing.

"You and Maureen are so much trouble." He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Ok, will everyone please come by the stage so we can announce the prom king and queen." Jessie McShane, the student council president, said into the microphone.

"Ok, our prom king is" she said opening the envelope, "shock of all shockers! Roger Davis!" She said. Everyone clapped as Roger made his way to the stage.

"Thank you." He said as they placed the crown on his head.

"Ok and now for the prom queen." She said opening the envelope. Kelly watched as Becca stood their praying for her name not to be called. All night people had been coming up to Becca saying that they voted for her and Roger. She didn't know if they were serious or not. Jessie looked up and found Becca in the crowd. "You can stop praying now Becca, it's not you." Everyone laughed at that. "Our prom queen is…" Jessie paused. "Kelly Keaton. Big shock guys." Once again everyone clapped as Kelly made her way up to the stage.

"Thank you." Kelly smiled as they placed the crown on her head.

"And now everyone it's the last dance of the night, so grab your date and have fun." Jessie said before stepping off stage. As Never Say Goodbye by Bon Jovi began playing, Roger took Kelly's hand and led her on to the dance floor. They just stood their in each others arms and danced silently. Roger leaned down and kissed her.

"This has been one of the best nights of my life." He whispered into her ear. Kelly looked up at him and smiled.

"It's the same for me." She said before resting her head against his chest. When the song ended everyone headed out to their cars. Benny and Becca were riding with Maureen and Mark while Roger and Kelly would be taking his car.

* * *

"I can't wait to get to the beach." Kelly said holding onto Roger's hand while they drove to the beach.

"I know. It's going to be awesome." Roger said. "You know this is going to be one of the last times that we hang out as a group?"

"Roger all of us are going to New York for the summer and Mark and Benny will be back every other weekend and for all breaks." Kelly said.

"I know but Becca's going to be in Chicago and this is one of the last times we'll hang out together and still call this place home." Roger said. Kelly and Roger were silent as they continues their drive to the beach. All of a sudden a car swirved into their lane, Kelly screamed as Roger jerked the car off the road. Roger slammed on the breaks and threw the car into park as he turned to Kelly.

"Are you ok?" He asked reaching out for her.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Kelly said trying to smile, she was a bit shaky.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm fine. Is the car ok?" She asked. Roger nodded. "Then let's get back on the road." Roger nodded and pulled back onto the road.

Kelly and Roger walked hand in hand over to where the others were. They had set up a small bond fire. Roger and Kelly had beer and blankets with them. After they got settled Kelly raised her beer.

"To us. May we always be friends and always have love." She said as everyone raised their bottles. Roger kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her. They spent the rest of the night drinking with their friends before falling asleep in each others arms on the beach.

* * *

When Kelly walked downstairs in her cap and gown, Ann started to cry.

"Mom please don't start this." Nick begged his mother. "If you start, then she'll start and I can't handle that right now."

"Shut up." Kelly said. Ann came up and hugged her.

"I can't believe that my other baby is graduating to day." She said.

"I know." Kelly said smiling.

"I'll be right back." Ann said leaving the room. Nick walked over to his sister and hugged her.

"Congrats, lil sis." He said. "Just think tomorrow your going to be a New York City resident."

"I know." She said smiling. "Your going to come by this weekend right?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He said as their mother came back in with a small box.

"My mom gave me this on my graduation day and I want you to have it." Ann said handing her the box.

"Ann you didn't have to do this." Kelly said with tears in her eyes.

"I wanted you to have it." Ann said as Kelly opened the box. It was a simple cross with a emerald in the middle.

"Thank you so much." Kelly said hugging her.

"You deserved it sweetie." Ann said.

"Can we stop before this turns into a chick flick?" Nick said. Kelly and Ann glared at him before they headed out the door.

* * *

Kelly and Maureen were lucky enough to be sitting by each other. Roger, Mark, Benny, and Becca were all sitting by each other too. Everyone sat silently as they called the names. One by one they watched there friends recive their diplomas.

"Benjamin Christian Coffin the III" The principal called as Benny walked across the stage.

"Mark Abraham Cohen." Maureen whistled as Mark walked across the stage.

"Rebecca Michelle Davis." Becca smiled and waved at the crowd. Kelly could have sworn she heard Benny whistle.

"Roger William Davis" Roger threw his fist up in the air as he accepted his diploma. Kelly whistled. A short time later it was almost Kelly and Maureen's turns.

"Kelly Bianca Keaton." Kelly smiled as she walked across the stage. She heard Roger yell out hot mama and laughed. When she looked into the crowd her heart stopped when she saw her father standing sitting there. She hadn't expected him to show up. She smiled and waved before taking her seat.

"Maureen Catharine Johnson." Maureen walked across the stage, took her diploma, and yelled out "Fuck yeah!" waving her hands in the air. The entire student body erupted with laughter. When everyone got up Kelly's dad came up to her and hugged her.

"I'm so proud of you." He said as they both had tears in their eyes.

* * *

Kelly and Roger laid in his bed that night thinking about the next day. Their parents weren't thrilled withtheir sleeping arrangments to say the least but the next day they were moving into together and they knew that Roger and Kelly respected them enough not to do anything in the house. At least not do anything while Roger's parents were in the house as well.

"You excited?" He asked as he pulled her closer.

"I'm ecstatic." She said wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Tomorrow is going to be awesome." He said.

"I can't wait." She said.

"I love you." Roger said.

"I love you too." Kelly said leaning up to kiss him. When she pulled away she laid her head on his chest and fell asleep.

A/N: Two chapters in one day! I'm trying to make up for me not updating this weekend. This chapter marked the end of the Scarsdale era. Next chapter they will be living in the loft. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I had a blast writing it. Thanks again to Renthead621 for helping me with my writers block. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You are great. I should have another chapter up tomorrow. Remember to review.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	11. Stoli

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to me and what belongs to Jonathon Larson.

Roger sat on the couch in their loft playing his guitar. It was one of the first times that he'd been alone in the loft. He looked around at his new home. It wasn't the nicest place in the world but he loved it. There were four bedrooms, two towards the front and two towards the back of the apartment. Mark and Maureen's room was to the left of the door. It was weird that Mark and Benny weren't going to be here all the time now. They had left that morning, taking Maureen with them to Brown. Maureen would be back at the end of the weekend. The loft was finally starting to feel like home. But now that Mark and Benny were at school they were going to have to start looking for another roommate. They had an extra room so it would be no problem, though it would be weird living with a complete stranger. Roger was so lost in thought that he didn't even hear Kelly walk in.

"You ok?" She asked putting the groceries on the table on the counter and going to sit down next to him.

"Yeah." Roger said pulling her into his lap. "Just thinking about how weird it is to be living on our own."

"Roger, it's been this way for months." Kelly laughed and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I know. But now it's really sinking in." Roger said. "Plus it's weird that Benny and Mark aren't here anymore."

"They'll be back all the time." Kelly said reassuringly.

"I know." Roger said. "So are you excited about school?"

"I can't wait." Kelly said. "I love all the classes I'm taking."

"What are you taking besides the photography classes?" Roger asked.

"I'm taking all the required stuff, you know English, History, and math." She said. "But I'm taking this philosophy class which should be fun."

"Thats great." Roger said. "Do you want to go out tonight?" He asked looking down at her.

"Sure. Do you want to go to The Life?" She asked smiling. "I really love that place."

"I was thinking of something a little fancier." Roger said laughing.

"Ok. What do you have in mind?" Kelly asked getting up.

"Well there's this really nice French place that's not too expensive over on sixth." Roger said getting up and following her into the bedroom.

"Do you even like French food?" Kelly asked laughing.

"Well, I wanted to do something special." He said wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Ok. Let me get in the shower and get ready." She said.

"Do you want some company?" Roger asked smirking. Kelly turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Now when have I ever turned down an offer like that?" She asked smiling. Roger just smiled and picked her up and carried her to into the bathroom.

* * *

"Roger can you zip this up for me?" Kelly asked as she walked out of the bedroom. Roger got up and walked over to her.

"Now why would I want to do that?" He asked before leaning down and kissing her.

"Because you're the one that wanted to go out." Kelly laughed when she pulled away. Roger pouted. "But I promise that if your good you'll be rewarded at the end of the night." Roger smiled and quickly pulled the zipper up.

"Well let's get going." He said holding out his arm for her. Kelly laughed as she took his arm.

* * *

Roger stared at his food like it was going to attack him.

"Roger it's not alive, I promise." Kelly laughed.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked looking up at her.

"You're the one who picked the restaurant." She laughed. "Why don't we just pay the bill and go to The Life."

"No it's fine. This can't be that bad." He said picking up the fork and taking a bite. Kelly burst out laughing watching Roger trying to swallow it. Roger finally got the "food" down his throat. He reached into his pockets and pulled out some money before grabbing Kelly's hand and pulling her out of the restaurant. When they were outside Kelly stopped walking.

"Why'd you stop walking?" He asked.

"I want you to say that I was right." She said smiling. Roger sighed and pulled her closer to him.

"You were right." He mumbled. Kelly smiled and kissed him. "So are we going to The Life?" He asked.

"I was thinking that we could go back to the loft." She said smiling seductively.

"Well you don't have to tell me twice." He said picking her up and heading back to the loft.

* * *

Kelly groaned as she heard the alarm go off. She pulled the pillow over her head and tried to ignore it.

"Turn that off." Roger grumbled. Kelly reach over and shut it off before closing her eyes again. Ten minutes later she felt the covers being ripped off her.

"What the hell!" She yelled.

"Sorry baby but I can't let you be late for your first day of classes." He said. Kelly glared at him before getting out of bed.

"I hate you right now." She said as she pulled on a tank top and a pair of Roger's boxers.

"But I love you." He said sweetly as her wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.

"I thought you didn't want me to be late?" She asked closing her eyes as he continued to kiss her neck.

"I didn't want you to over sleep but I'm ok with you being late because of this." He said smirking as he carried her back over to the bed. After a minute they heard Maureen bang on the door.

"Get up." She yelled. "Kelly has to be on time for her first day of school and Roger you have to be at work."

"Why didn't she stay at Brown?" Roger muttered as he got up. Kelly smacked his arm.

"Be nice." She said climbing off the bed. "Besides she's right. I need to be on time to class."

"I know." He said rummaging through his dresser. "Are you nervous?"

"A little bit." She said. "This is the first time that I'm going to be in a class and not have one of you guys with me."

"I'm sure you'll make friends fast." He said pulling her close to him.

"I know. It's just going to be weird." Kelly said smiling up at him. "Do you want to go out with Maureen tonight? I feel like celebrating."

"Sure." He said. "How is she holding up?"

"She's doing ok. She misses Mark like crazy." Kelly said sitting down on the bed. "She's afraid that they won't be able to make it. I told her that she's crazy and over reacting but you know how she gets."

"When is the next time that Benny and Mark are coming back?" Roger asked sitting next to her.

"Probably next month. They want to get settle and that before they come back." Kelly said.

"Well I guess we're just going to have to keep Mo distracted." Roger said walking towards the door.

"Aw that's cute." Kelly teases. "You actually care." Roger ignored her and rolled his eyes.

"Bout time you two got up." Maureen said with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry Mo, I'm not used to having to get up this early." Kelly laughed as she poured some coffee for herself.

"It's ok. I just didn't want you to be late." Maureen said hugging her.

"So do you have to work today?" Kelly asked sitting down on the couch.

"Yeah. Noon till four." Maureen said.

"Do you want to go out with me and Roger tonight?" Kelly asked.

"I don't want to be a third wheel." Maureen said

"You won't be. We want to hang out tonight and it wouldn't be the same if you weren't there." Kelly said.

"Fine, I'll go with you. But you and Roger can't make out the whole time." Maureen laughed.

"Deal." Kelly said sticking out her hand. Roger walked out of the bathroom ready to go to work.

"I have to leave now. I'll see you later." He said leaning down and kissing Kelly. "Love you."

"Love you too." She said smiling as he walked out the door. "Well I guess I should get ready." She said standing up and walking into the bathroom.

* * *

Kelly was sitting waiting for her last class of the day to begin when somebody tapped her shoulder. She looked up and saw a guy who was a few years older than her wearing a white beanie.

"This seat taken?" He asked pointing to the seat next to her. Normally Kelly would have said yes the seat was taken but something told her to let him sit there.

"Nope. Go right ahead." She said smiling. The guy nodded and sat down.

"Tom Collins." He said holding out his hand.

"Kelly Keaton." She said shaking his hand.

"So are you a philosophy major?" He asked.

"No. I'm a photography major, but this class looked interesting." She said. "What about you?"

"I'm double majoring in education and philosophy." He said. "So I'm going to hazard a guess and say that you're a freshman."

"That obvious?" She asked laughing.

"Just a bit." He laughed.

"What are you?" She asked.

"Senior." Tom said.

"That's cool." Kelly said. Tom noticed that she had a pair of headphones around her neck.

"What are you listening to?" He asked.

"It's a tape my boyfriend made for me." She said smiling.

"Oh. How long have you been going out?" He asked.

"Since we were fifteen." Kelly said.

"Damn that's a whole hell of a lot longer than any of my boyfriends lasted." He said watching her reaction.

"I'm sure that you'll find the right guy for you Tom." Kelly said. Collins smiled when it didn't phaze her a bit.

"Please call me Collins." He said. "I think I'm going to like you." Collins said smiling.

* * *

Kelly and Collins decided to go get lunch at the Life after their class. Kelly learned that Collins had come out to his parents when he was fifteen and they were less than supportive. She also learned that he was good with computers. Kelly in turn told him about Scarsdale.

"Wow. You actually threw the baseball at her?" Collins said laughing as she told him the story of Gloria Anderson.

"Well she was flirting with my man, I wasn't going to let her get away with that." Kelly laughed.

"Remind me to never try stealing your boyfriend." Collins said laughing.

"Kelly?" Kelly turned around to see Maureen standing there.

"Hey Mo." She said. "You want to sit with us?"

"Sure." Maureen said. "So who's this?" Maureen asked pointing at Collins.

"This is Tom Collins. Collins this is my best friend Maureen Johnson." Kelly said making introductions. One of the male waiters walked by and Maureen whistled.

"Maureen." Kelly said shaking her head.

"What he's fine." Collins said smiling. Kelly and Maureen burst out laughing.

"I think you and me are going to get along really well." Maureen said.

"Oh god. Am I going to regret introducing you two?" Kelly asked.

"Yes." Collins and Maureen said at the same time. They spent the next two hours sitting at the Life before Maureen and Kelly headed back to the loft. They told Collins where the loft was and to meet them there later on that night. When they got their Roger was on the couch with his fender. Kelly jumped into his lap as soon as they walked in the door.

"Hey baby!" Kelly exclaimed before kissing him

"I take it school went well?" He asked laughing.

"Yes it did. Most of my classes were really fun and I met the coolest person ever." Kelly said.

"Really? What's their name." He asked wrapping his arms around her waist.

"His name is Tom Collins, but everyone calls him Collins, he's going to be a philosophy teacher. He's so funny." Kelly said.

"I'm glad your making friends." He said smiling.

"Do you mind if we invited him to come with us. I want you two to meet and that way Maureen will feel like less of a third wheel." Kelly asked.

"That's fine." Roger said. "You already invited him didn't you?" He asked laughing.

"You know me way too well." Kelly said before kissing him.

"You have a room, use it." Maureen yelled coming out of her bedroom.

"Hello to you to, Maureen." Roger said rolling his eyes.

"So what did Roger say about Collins moving in with us?" Maureen said sitting down on one of the chairs. Roger's head jerked up and looked at Maureen.

"What?" He asked.

"You didn't tell him?" Maureen said shaking her head.

"I was going to talk to him about it after he met Collins." Kelly said glaring at Maureen.

"You asked someone that you've only known for a few hours to move in with us?" Roger asked stunned.

"Just give him a chance, if you don't like him then he won't move in. But I know you're going to like him." Kelly said.

"Ok. But don't do anything like this again." Roger said. Kelly kissed his cheek and got up.

"I'm going to go get ready." Kelly said going into the bathroom.

"So what's this guy like?" Roger asked obviously jealous.

"Well he's really smart, funny and gay." Maureen said smirking.

"Was I that obvious?" Roger asked.

"Oh yeah. But it's understandable." Maureen said.

"So he's not crazy or anything like that?" He asked.

"No. He's a bit of an anarchist though." Maureen said with a smile. Roger nodded.

"Well I'm going to go get changed." Roger said as he walked to the bedroom.

* * *

Roger, Kelly and Maureen anxiously awaited Collins arrival. Kelly was nervous about how Roger and Collins would get along. The phone rang and Collins voice came over the answer machine.

"Um I'm doing what you told me and calling from the payphone." He said laughing. Kelly got up and threw the key down. A minute later Collins burst into the room.

"I come bearing gifts!" He exclaimed holding a bottle of stoli in the air. Little did they know what a staple that bottle would become.

"Hey Collins." Kelly said hugging him. Maureen got up and hugged him too.

"You must be Roger." Collins said holding out his hand.

"Yeah. Collins, right?" Roger asked shaking his hand.

"That would be me." Collins laughed. "So do you want guys want to go out or bring the party here?"

"I'd rather stay here." Roger said.

"I guess we could stay here. Should we order pizza?" Kelly asked.

"Pizza doesn't go with stoli." Collins gasped. "Chinese tastes much better." He said smiling.

"I'll go call." Kelly said laughing. Maureen had disappeared for the moment so Collins and Roger made their way over to the couch and sat there in a awkward silence.

"I honestly don't expect to move in." Collins said laughing.

"It's nothing against you, I just don't know you." Roger said.

"Fair enough. What do you want to know?" Collins asked putting his feet up on the table.

"Just tell me about yourself." Roger said. Before Collins could start Kelly came back over.

"Where's Mo?" Kelly asked.

"She's in her room." Roger said.

"I'm going to go make sure she's ok." Kelly said going into Maureen's room.

"Maureen seems a little depressed." Collins observed.

"Her boyfriends at Brown, they've never really been apart. It's kind of a hard adjustment." Roger said.

"That sucks." Collins said. "How long have they been together?"

"Since they were fourteen." Roger said.

"Shit. I guess Scarsdale builds some strong relationships." Collins said.

"We grew up together. We were all really close and things just developed." Roger said.

"That's cool." Collins said pulling out a joint. "You smoke?"

"Here and there." Roger said. Collins took a hit of the joint.

"You want a hit?" He asked.

"Why not? Those two are going to be in there awhile." Roger said taking the joint.

* * *

An hour later Kelly and Maureen walked out to find Roger and Collins laughing hysterically at something.

"What's so funny?" Maureen asked.

"The lamp!" Roger yelled. Kelly and Maureen looked at each other warily. Kelly looked at the table to find the bottle of stoli half way gone and several joints along with the take out nearly eaten.

"Well I guess they got along with out us." Maureen said.

"I would say so." Kelly said amused. "Think we should make them go to bed?"

"Where's Collins going to sleep?" Maureen asked.

"We'll put him in Benny's room." Kelly said as she grabbed Roger and Maureen grabbed Collins.

"Baby, Collins is awesome." Roger said stumbling.

"No you are awesome Roger." Collins slurred. Kelly and Maureen looked at each other and laughed.

"I'm glad that you got along baby, now let's go to bed." Kelly said walking him into their bedrooms. Fifteen minutes later she came back out and sat down next to Maureen.

"Thanks for earlier." Maureen said.

"No problem, you've always been there for me." Kelly said hugging her.

"So when do you think those two will wake up?" Maureen asked.

"Probably not till noon at the earliest." Kelly said laughing as she reached for the stoli. She poured two shots and handed one to Maureen.

"To our New York adventures!" She said raising the glass in the air.

"I'll drink to that." Maureen said.

* * *

Collins stumbled out of the room around one the next afternoon. Roger was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.

"I just made coffee and theirs some aspirin in the bathroom." Roger said. Collins nodded and sat next to him.

"All I need is some coffee." He said pouring some into a mug.

"I'm never drinking with you again." Roger said laughing.

"You had fun and you know it." Collins said smirking. "Where are the girls?"

"They went to go get something to eat. They should be back soon." Roger said.

"Cool." Collins said drinking his coffee.

"Listen if you want to move in its fine." Roger said looking up from his coffee.

"Are you sure. It's fine really." Collins said.

"It's fine. As long as you don't mind all the people that are going to be here once the colleges let out for break." Roger said.

"I thought there were only two other people?" Collins asked. Roger laughed.

"Officially there are only two other people." Roger said. "But my twin sister Becca and my older brother Billy are here when their on breaks. Billy always brings his girlfriend Barb. Then there's Kelly's brother,Nick, who lives in the city and stops by all the time. And Benny's brother John comes by when he's here."

"Damn that's a lot of people." Collins laughed. "But it's fine with me."

"Cool." Roger said. "We'll move all the boxed out of the fourth bedroom and that can be you room. You could move in today if you want."

"Ok. I'll get my stuff later." Collins said. He took out a joint and threw an arm around Roger's shoulder. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Roger laughed and shook his head.

"There's never going to be a dull moment around here." Roger said laughing.

"Oh you have no idea." Collins laughed.

A/N: Collins has arrived! I'm so happy that Collins is back in the story. I hope you all liked it. I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed. You are the reason that this story keeps going. Remember to review. Another chapter will be up tomorrow night.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	12. Coming Together

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and what belongs to me.

Christmas had been had enveloped the loft. Roger said it looked like an elf had vomited to which Kelly smacked him. It was mid December and Benny and Mark had finally come home for the holidays. They had both taken and instant liking to Collins. Mark and Maureen cuddled on the couch while Benny and Collins watched a football game on TV. Kelly and Roger came storming into the loft, it was obvious that something had happened because Kelly went right into their bedroom and slammed the door. Maureen got up and went in to talk to Kelly.

"What happened?" Mark asked cautiously.

"I don't know. We were having dinner at the Life and then I said something about going home for the weekend and she flipped out." Roger said sitting down.

"Did she tell you about her dad?" Benny asked.

"What about her dad?" Roger asked.

"Well I was talking to my mom the other day and she said that Ann and Andrew separated." Benny said.

"Why didn't she tell me?" Roger asked.

"You know how close her and Ann are." Mark said. "It probably feels like she's loosing her mom all over again."

"And she doesn't want to go home and see that Ann's not around." Roger said. "I'm going to go talk to her." Roger said getting up. He walked over to the door and knocked on it. "Baby, can I come in for a minute?" He asked softly. Maureen opened the door.

"Talk to her." She said leaving the room. Roger nodded and shut the door before walking over to the bed.

"I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have yelled." Roger said. "Why didn't you tell me about your dad and Ann?" Kelly shrugged.

"I don't know." She said wiping her tears.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" He asked lying next to her.

"I remember when my mom died I thought that I'd never have someone care about me as much as she did. And when Ann started dating my dad, I knew that she'd actually be there for me." Kelly said with tears flowing down her cheeks. "She's my mom."

"You know that she would never turn her back on you." Roger said wrapping his arms around her. "She thinks of you as her daughter."

"I just don't want her to get hurt. Because for some reason she actually loves my father." Kelly said laying her head on his chest.

"They just separated. They might get back together." Roger said stroking her hair.

"I don't know what would be worse. He doesn't treat her or Nate like he should." Kelly said.

"There's nothing that you can do about that. Just know that whatever happens Ann will always be apart of you life." Roger said. Kelly nodded.

"I'm sorry that I've been so bitchy the past couple of days." She said looking up at him.

"It's fine." He said caressing her face. "Just talk to me next time. Ok?"

"Ok." She said leaning up to kiss him. "I love you."

"Good, because I love you." He said smiling.

"If you really want to we can go back to Scarsdale this weekend." She said.

"Why don't we just have my parents drive in for the day with Lindsey?" He asked.

"That'll be great." Kelly said. "Can you believe that she's going to be nine?"

"No. I remember the day she was born." Roger said smiling.

"So do I. Your dad was so nervous, my mom had to keep the nurses from killing him." Kelly laughed.

"I don't know why, it's not like it was his first time." Roger said.

"But Lindsey was a surprise." Kelly said. "You know in a couple years she's going to be dating." Roger groaned.

"Don't talk like that. I'm hoping that she won't date till she's thirty." Roger said.

"Roger William Davis, you will not torture that poor girl the way you tortured Becca." Kelly said.

"Their my baby sisters, I can't help it." Roger said smiling.

"Roger, Becca is twenty minutes older than you." Kelly laughed.

"Minor details." Roger laughed. "Do you want to go back out there?"

"No, I just want to stay here." She said closing her eyes.

"OK." He said kissing the top of her head before falling asleep.

* * *

Roger was eating cereal at the table when he heard one of the doors open. A tall blonde girl stepped out.

"Hello." She said nervously.

"Um hi." Roger said not knowing what to say.

"I'm Allison." The girl said awkwardly.

"Benny's been talking about you!" Roger said as he realized who the girl was. Allison smiled when he said.

"So your…" She asked obviously trying to remember which one of his friends was sitting before her.

"Roger." He laughed standing up and shaking her hand.

"Ok. Your dating Kelly, right?" She asked.

"Yep." He said smiling. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"Sure, what do you got?" She asked following him back to the table.

"Captain Crunch and coffee." He said laughing.

"Great combination." She said pouring some coffee and cereal for herself.

"You'll fit in really well here." Roger said laughing. They started talking and Roger found out that she went to NYU and that she worked for her father's real estate company. Benny woke up twenty minutes later.

"Roger what are you doing up? It's only 10 am." Benny said laughing. Roger rolled his eyes.

"I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so I got up." Roger said. "And me and Allison have been getting to know each other over Captain Crunch."

"Don't believe half of what he said." Benny said laughing.

"Oh she knows that I was telling the truth." Roger said smirking. Benny's eyes popped out of his head.

"What did you say Roger?" Benny asked. Allison and Roger burst out laughing.

"I told you that would get him." Roger laughed.

"Baby you should have seen the look on your face." Allison said wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You didn't talk about me at all did you?" Benny asked.

"Nope. We talked about how great Captain Crunch was and I told him that I go to NYU." Allison said before kissing him.

"Get a room." Roger said rolling his eyes.

"Oh like your one to talk Davis." Benny said rolling his eyes. "Has Mark forgiven you and Kelly yet?"

"We were drunk." Roger said laughing. "And we did buy him new sheets."

"What happened?" Allison asked confused.

"Mark and Maureen were back in Scarsdale and the morning they came back they found Kelly and Roger in their bed." Benny said smirking. "Naked."

"You mean… oh that's hilarious." Allison said laughing.

"Mark and Maureen didn't seem to think so." Benny laughed. Roger just shrugged.

"If you really want to blame someone blame Collins." Roger said getting up. "He's the one that went out with us. And Benny, you know what it's like going out with Collins."

"Yes I do." Benny said laughing.

"Hey are you two doing anything tonight?" Roger asked.

"Nope. Why.?" Benny asked.

"Well Collins wants us all to go out tonight, he's bringing his new boyfriend." Roger said.

"Cool. We'll be there." Benny said. "What time?"

"Be back here at seven." Roger said. "I'm going to try laying down for awhile. I'll see you guys later." Roger said going into his bedroom.

* * *

A few hours later everyone was trying to get ready not an easy task when there's only one bathroom between the six roommates and you take in to account that two of the six are Maureen and Kelly. Roger was taking a shower when he heard the door fly open.

"What the hell?" He yelled poking his head out of the curtain.

"I need to get my make up." Maureen said rolling her eyes as she dug through the drawers.

"And I need my hairspray." Kelly said grabbing the hairspray.

"Can you hurry up? I would like some privacy." Roger said behind the curtain. Kelly smirked and walked over to the shower. She pulled the curtain back just a little because Maureen was still in the room.

"Would you like some company?" She asked.

"Are you offering?" Roger asked smirking.

"You guys need a cold shower." Maureen said rolling her eyes and walking out of the bathroom.

"So?" Roger asked with raised eyebrows. Kelly smiled and leaned in to kiss him hard.

"I'm going to get ready now." Kelly said smirking a walking out of the bathroom.

"You're an evil woman." Roger muttered as he shut the curtain.

Twenty minutes later Roger walked into his bedroom to get dressed. Kelly walked in as he was pulling on his boxers.

"Hey there sexy." Kelly said smiling and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I should be mad at you right now." He said wrapping his arms around her.

"And why is that?" She asked smiling

"That stunt you pulled in the bathroom was just mean." He said pouting. Kelly laughed and leaned up to kiss him.

"I promise to make it up to you tonight." She said smiling seductively.

"How about you make it up to me right now?" He asked kissing her neck. Kelly pulled him over to the bed. Five minutes later someone started to pound on the door.

"Don't even think about starting that right now." Collins yelled through the door. "You have fifteen minutes or else I'm coming in there and dragging you out." Roger let out a frustrated sigh.

"They love tormenting us." He said getting up. Kelly laughed.

"Well now you have something to look forward to tonight." Kelly said smiling.

"Oh believe me I'm looking forward to it." He said leaning down and kissing her. "Now come on before they come in." He said pulling her up and walking out into the living room.

"Took you long enough." Maureen said with her hands on her hips.

"Whatever do you guys want to go or not." Roger said pulling on his leather jacket and handing Kelly hers.

"Aw that's cute." Allison said smiling. "You two have matching jackets."

"Roger bought me this for my 15th birthday." Kelly said smiling.

"Yeah well I figured you were always stealing mine so if I got you one of your own then I'd be able to wear mine again." Roger said wrapping his arm around her waist.

"You know that you think I look sexy in my leather jacket." Kelly said laughing.

"You look sexy in anything." Roger said laughing.

"Oh you two make me sick." Mark said laughing as they all walked out of the loft. Soon enough they were walking into a club in the east village. The boys headed straight for the bar while the girls headed to the dance floor. After a little while of dancing the girls came over to the table the boys had gotten. When they came back Collins new boyfriend, Steven, had arrived.

"Collins, who's this?" Kelly asked as she sat down on Roger's lap.

"This is Steven." Collins said smiling. Kelly had never seen him smile like that. "Steven these are the girls. The one sitting on Roger's lap is Kelly. The one attached to Mark's hip is Maureen, and the pretty blonde over there is Allison."

"It's nice to meet you guys." Steven said. The group took an instant liking to the new member. He was pre law at Colombia and he had a great sense of humor. They spent the entire night there before going back to the loft and continuing the party there. That night Kelly couldn't help but smile as she laid in bed.

"What are you so happy about?" He asked climbing into bed next to her.

"I don't know." Kelly said as she laid her head on his chest. "I guess it's because we're all happy and in love." She said smiling.

"Don't you think it's a little soon to say that Collins and Steven are in love?" He asked looking down at her.

"Did you see the way the looked at each other tonight?" Kelly asked looking up at him. "They're in love, even if they haven't realized it yet."

"You are such a hopeless romantic." He said smiling before kissing her.

"Yep, and I'm damn proud of it." She laughed. Roger laughed and kissed the top of her head.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He laughed. Kelly let out a loud yawn. "I think it's time to go to sleep." He said rubbing her back.

"I love you." She said as she closed her eyes.

"I love you too." He said kissing her one last time before falling asleep himself.

A/N: Ok, I'm going to warn you this story is coming to an end soon. And for those who read Time Flies you know what that means. This story is going to be turning sad soon, I just want to warn you. I've been dreading these next couple of chapters since I started writing this story but it's a must. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, you guys amaze me. Thanks again to Renthead621 for helping me with my writers block and being a really great friend. I hope your enjoying this story because I've been having a great time writing it. Remember to review, I love your feedback.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	13. Another Death And A New Life

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what's mine and what's Jonathon Larson's.

Summer had hit with a vengeance. It was unbearably hot outside and even hotter in the loft. No matter how many fans they got nothing would make the heat go away. Kelly walked into the loft and saw Collins sitting on the couch.

"Hey Collins baby!" Kelly said as she walked into the kitchen to get some water. When Collins didn't say anything Kelly got worried and went over to him. "Collins are you ok?" She asked sitting next to him. When he looked at him she saw that their were tears running down his face.

"Steven's sick." He managed to say before breaking down into sobs. Kelly wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

"What's wrong with him?" Kelly asked softly.

"AIDS." Kelly froze. This couldn't be happening she thought. All that she heard about the disease was that it was a death sentence to anyone who had it.

"Are…" She couldn't bring herself to say the words. Collins just nodded. Kelly felt like someone had ripped her heart out. She sat there for who knows how long crying with Collins. Collins finally pulled away and started to wipe his eyes.

"Are you going to be ok?" Kelly asked then mentally kicked herself for asking such a dumb question.

"I don't know." Collins said honestly. "I want to find Steven's ex and kill him." Kelly just nodded. "I need to get away."

"Collins if I had the money I would take you anywhere in the world." Kelly said reaching out for his hand. Collins nodded.

"I need to get out and walk around for awhile." He said standing up.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Kelly asked. Collins shook his head.

"I need to be with my thoughts for awhile." He said, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'll be back soon." With that said he walked out the door. Kelly got up and went into her bedroom and got the koala bear that Roger had won for her when she was fifteen. She held it close to her chest as she cried.

* * *

Kelly heard the door open and ran out of the bedroom to find Collins standing there.

"Did you mean what you said before?" He asked holding something behind his back.

"What did I say before?" She asked confused.

"That if you could, you would go with me anywhere." Collins said.

"Yeah I meant it, but Collins we're broke." Kelly said confused.

"Let's just say I called in a few favors." He said holding up two plane tickets.

"Collins where did you get those?" Kelly asked stunned. True Collins usually had more money then the rest of the group but not that much.

"It's a secret." He said. "Are you coming with?"

"Collins your running." Kelly said. "Shouldn't you be with Steven right now?" She hated having to say that but it needed to be said.

"I just need some space for a few days." Collins said with tears in his eyes. Kelly couldn't say no.

"Ok." She said quietly. "Let me get a bag and write a note." Collins nodded. Kelly came back out 5 minutes later with a bag. "Where are we going?"

"Greece. That's where all the great philosopher's were from. I always wanted to go there, I thought that I'd have a little more time though." He said sadly.

"Collins don't talk like that. You don't know anything for certain." Kelly said holding back tears.

"It's ok. I need to accept it." Collins said.

"No!" Kelly yelled crying. "They've said that they've found medicine that will help." Collins ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Kelly those medicines will only prolong the inevitable." Collins said. "But I'm not dead yet. I'm going to take whatever time I have left and make the most of it." Kelly nodded against his chest. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let me just leave a note." Kelly said picking up a pen and pad of paper. The note said:

_Dear Roger,_

_Something happened. Don't worry I'm fine. I'm with Collins. He had to get out of the city for a few days so we're going to Greece. Don't be mad, he'll explain everything when we get back in a few days. Please don't be mad, he needs this right now. I'll call you soon._

_Love Kelly_

She put the note by the phone and picked up her bag.

"I guess we should get going." She said. Collins nodded and turned to walk out the door with Kelly following right behind him.

* * *

Roger sat staring at the note. He'd come home ten minutes ago and found a note from Kelly saying that her and Collins were in Greece. He didn't know if he should be angry or worried. Although right now he was both. He didn't like not knowing what was going on. When he heard the door open he looked up praying that it was Kelly and Collins but it was Mark.

"Hey. What's up." Mark said cheerily as he came into the loft.

"Read this." Roger said angrily as he threw the note down on the table. Mark walked over to the table and read the note.

"What happened?" Mark asked confused.

"I know as much as you do." Roger yelled and got up and started pacing.

"Roger calm down. I'm sure that everything is going to be ok." Mark said knowing full well that he was trying in vein to calm Roger down.

"What would you do if it was Maureen?" Roger asked angrily.

"I'd be pissed but I wouldn't be taking it out on my best friend who's only trying to help." Mark yelled. That made Roger stop in his tracks. Mark never yelled like that.

"I'm sorry it's just that I want to know what the hell is going on." Roger said frustrated as he sat back down.

"It's ok, but let's just try to wait as calmly as we can for them to call." Mark said sitting next to him.

"It scares me to think what happened. I mean I know that Collins has these crazy plans sometimes but they would never just up and take off somewhere if it wasn't something big." Roger said putting his hands in his head.

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Mark said. Roger nodded and they just sat in silence waiting for a phone call from Kelly or Collins.

* * *

It was well past midnight but no one in the loft was asleep. It had been a day since Kelly and Collins had left and they had yet to call. Maureen, Benny, and Allison had all been told what happened when they got home and they were just as worried as Mark and Roger. Finally the phone rang. Roger jumped up and answered it on the first ring.

"Kelly?" He asked into the phone.

"Yeah it' me." She said as Roger breathed a sigh of relif. "How pissed are you?"

"I just want you to explain to me what happened." Roger said trying to stay calm.

"Well Collins got some bad news and needed to get away." Kelly said calmly. She really wanted to tell Roger everything but it was Collins news to tell.

"What kind of news? And why the hell did you have to go all the way to Greece?" He said as he raised his voice.

"Roger!" Maureen yelled.

"Listen Collins needs to be the one to tell everyone." Kelly said as her voice broke. "And he's always wanted to see Greece."

"I can't believe this." Roger yelled. "Kelly I have a right to know what the hell is going on."

"Listen Roger, I have to go. We'll be back sometime tomorrow night." Kelly said. "I love you." With that she hung up. Roger slammed the phone down.

"Roger you need to take a breath." Benny said calmly.

"I can't do that!" Roger yelled before storming off into his room and slamming the door. The rest of the group sat quietly, contemplating what Collins had been told that would make him run like that.

* * *

Mark walked out into the living room and noticed that there was a message on the machine. He hit play and soon enough Kelly's voice came over the machine.

"_Hey guys it's me. I know that we said we'd be home today but something came up. Collins got arrested. Don't worry everything is fine, we just won't be home for two more days. I have to go, I'll talk to you when we get home. Bye."_ Kelly said before hanging up. Mark sighed. Roger was going to be really upset when he found out.

* * *

The tension that filled the loft was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Roger and Mark had had a huge fight when Roger found out Kelly and Collins wouldn't be back for another two days. The screaming match ended with Roger locking himself in his room. The heard the door open and looked up to see Collins and Kelly standing there. Roger got up and rushed over to Kelly. He wrapped her in a tight a hug.

"Are you guy going to tell us what happened?" He asked. He knew that getting angry would only lead to more problems and he wanted to avoid that right now. Kelly nodded and led Roger over to the couch to sit down, when they were seated all eyes turned to Collins. He took a deep breath before telling them. He watched as the tears formed in their eyes. After a minute of silence, Roger was the first to speak.

"Whatever you need, we're here for you." Roger said getting up and hugging him. The rest of the group followed suit saying the same thing. Collins smiled and looked around the room, the people sitting before him were'nt his friends, they were his family. After sitting there talking for awhile Collins decided to go see Steven. After Collins left Kelly and Roger decided to go to bed.

"Are you mad at me?" Kelly asked Roger as he got into bed.

"No." He said wrapping his arms around her. "I understand why you did it. Just promise me it won't happen again."

"I promise." She said. "I'm scared." She whispered.

"I know. So am I. But the only thing we can do is be there for them and tell them how much we love them." Roger said holding her close.

"How do you so that?" She asked looking up at him.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Always know what to say to make me feel better." Kelly said. Roger shrugged.

"I just tell you what I think." He said simply.

"I love you so much." She said leaning up to kiss him.

"I love you too." He said before falling asleep.

* * *

August 27, 1987 was one of the worst days for the group. They had just buried Steven and they were all having a hard time dealing with it. Collins was a wreck, the boys had decided to take him with them to get the food so he would get out of the house. The girls were sitting in the loft talking when Kelly jumped up and ran to the bathroom to vomit. Maureen and Allison were by her side in an instant.

"Are you ok?" Maureen asked kneeling beside her.

"Yeah. I think I have the flu or something." Kelly said wiping her mouth with some toilet paper.

"Kelly who gets the flu in August?" Allison asked.

"Then it's probably just stress." Kelly said standing up.

"Kelly when was the last time you got your period?" Maureen asked bluntly. Kelly's face paled and she sat down on the edge of the bothtub.

"You don't think?" Kelly said shakily.

"It's possible." Allison said. Maureen walked over to the sink and pulled out something and handed it to Kelly.

"I always have one just in case." She said handing her a pregnancy test. "Take that. Me and Ally will be outside ok?" Kelly nodded as the two girls exited the bathroom. Maureen and Allison paced back and forth for five minutes. Kelly hadn't said anything yet so they decided to knock on the door.

"Kelly are you ok?" Allison asked knocking on the door. Kelly opened the door, she looked as white as a ghost and she was obviously crying. Allison pulled her into a hug while Kelly handed Maureen the test. Maureen looked down at it in shock.

It was positive.

A/N: Kelly's pregnant. I just want to warn you again that there is a lot of sadness coming up. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, you guys are awesome. I hope you liked this chapter, it was a hard one to write. I can't wait to hear what you guys thought of it. Remember to review! I just want to thank Renthead621 once again for being a great friend and always helping me out with this story and other stuff. You are amazing. Next chapter should be up tomorrow night sometime.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	14. What Are We Going To Do?

Disclaimer I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to me and what belongs to Jonathon Larson.

Maureen and Allison were sitting on the couch in silence when the boys returned. Collins went right into his room.

"Where's Kelly?" Roger asked setting down the bags.

"She's laying down." Maureen said quietly. Roger nodded.

"I'm going to see if she needs anything." Roger said walking into the bedroom. Kelly was sitting in the corner of the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest crying.

"Kelly what's wrong?" He asked running over to her. Kelly just buried her head in his chest crying. She handed him the test. Roger just looked down at it confused.

"Um, ok are you running a fever?" Roger asked confused. Kelly couldn't help but laugh a little.

"You don't know what that is, do you?" She said wiping her eyes.

"A weird thermometer?" He said.

"It's a pregnancy test." She said looking down at the bed. Roger sat there for a minute staring.

"So does this mean…" He trailed off and looked up at Kelly. Kelly just nodded. "Kelly you have to talk to me."

"What are we going to do?" She asked crying. Roger once again wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"We'll figure it out." Roger said rubbing her back. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." She cried.

"Well, there are three things we can do." Roger said "Have the baby and keep it, have the baby and give it up for adoption or…" He couldn't bring himself to say what their third option was.

"I couldn't do that." She said quietly.

"Well then we have two options." He said.

"How would we raise this baby?" She asked looking up at him.

"I'm not saying that it would be easy but we could do it." Roger said. "Everyone would help out. If that's what you want, we could do it."

"I don't want someone else raising my baby." She said.

"Well then I guess we know what we're gonna do." Roger said. "So what do we have to do now?"

"I guess I need to go to the clinic." Kelly said.

"I think we should go tomorrow." Roger said as he rubbed her back. "Do you think we should tell everyone now?"

"Well Maureen and Allison already know, but I know they won't say anything until we're ready." Kelly said looking up at him. "Maybe we should wait a couple days to tell everyone else." Roger nodded and placed his hand on Kelly's stomach.

"So our baby's in there." He said smiling. Kelly nodded and placed her hand over Roger's. "I promise that everything's going to be ok." He said kissing the side of her head.

* * *

Roger and Kelly sat nervously in the doctor's office. Allison had refused to let Kelly go to the clinic so she arranged for Kelly to see a really good doctor uptown. Kelly was fidgeting because she was so nervous. Roger reached out and took Kelly's hand.

"It'll be ok." He said squeezing her hand. Kelly nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. After twenty minutes of waiting the nurse called them back.

"Miss Keaton you're going to have to put this gown on and then get up on the table." The nurse said. "The doctor will be with you soon." Kelly nodded and went behind the curtain to change. She nervously climbed onto the table. Roger pulled a chair over and once again took her hand.

"So I was thinking, if it's a boy we could name him Sid." Roger said trying to get her to laugh. Kelly glared at him.

"Not a chance." She said trying to fight a smile.

"Ok what about Bono?" Roger asked.

"How about Bruce?" Kelly asked laughing.

"My son will not be named after Bruce Springsteen." Roger said shaking his head.

"I love Bruce Springsteen. What's wrong with him?" The doctor laughed as she walked into the room.

"She's already obsessed with him enough." Roger said rolling his eyes and laughing.

"He's a great artist." The doctor laughed. "You ready?" The doctor asked. Kelly nodded. The exam was over in a half hour. "Well everything looks good. Let's see this baby of yours." She said pulling over the sonogram machine. "You see that right there?" The doctor asked pointing to a tiny little dark spot.

"Is that the baby?" Roger asked with tears in his eyes.

"That's you baby." The doctor said smiling. "Everything looks good. I'd say your about eight weeks." Kelly and Roger both smiled. "Well everything's done for today. I want to see you back here in a month." The doctor said. She wrote a prescription for prenatal vitamins before leaving.

* * *

Everyone was anxiously waiting at The Life for Kelly and Roger. Mark, Benny, and Collins were still in the dark about the news.

"I wonder what their news is." Mark said.

"It's something big." Benny said. "Have you seen the way they've been acting for the past couple of days?" Collins noticed that Maureen and Allison weren't saying much but they had huge grins on their faces.

"You two know what their going to tell us?" Collins said smiling. It was the first smile they saw on his face in a long time.

"I don't know what your talking about Collins." Allison said taking a sip of her iced tea.

"How could you two not tell us?" Benny pouted.

"Oh shut it Benny." Maureen said rolling her eyes. "Besides here they come." Kelly and Roger came through the door with smiles on their face. Roger sat down in a chair and pulled Kelly into his lap.

"I'm starving." He said with a mischievous grin on his face. "I could use a burger and fries. What about you, baby?"

"I'm thinking that sounds really good to me." Kelly said smiling. "What about desert?"

"I hate you two." Benny said realizing what they were doing.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kelly said smiling.

"Can you please just tell us your big news?" Mark whined.

"Oh grow up and stop acting like babies." Maureen said rolling her eyes.

"No it's fine Mo, we need the practice." Roger said grinning. Collins caught on but Benny and Mark didn't.

"Come on just tell us your news." Mark said. Roger rolled his eyes.

"We bought a new hair dryer." Roger said dryly. Kelly, Maureen, Allison, and Collins burst out laughing while Benny and Mark sat there confused.

"You wanted to celebrate getting a hair dryer?" Mark asked. Kelly rolled her eyes.

"Well I guess we're going to have to be blunt." She said laughing. "I'm pregnant." Benny and Mark's eyes looked like they were going to burst out of their head.

"Oh my god." Mark exclaimed. "Congratulations!" Mark said as he got up and hugged Kelly. Everyone else did the same. When they all got back to their seats Collins raised his glass.

"To Roger and Kelly and the new life they are about to bring into this world." Collins said with tears in his eyes. "May you find all the happiness that you deserve." After Collins toast no one had a dry eye. They all stayed their and celebrated the life that was going to be a part of their family soon.

A/N: I know it was a short chapter but I promise that I'll have a longer one up tomorrow night. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love hearing what you think. Remember to review.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	15. Raging Bitch On Crack

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what's mine and what belongs to Jonathon Larson.

Roger sat on the couch as Kelly lay down with her head on his lap. He played with her hair with one hand, while the other rested on her 5 months pregnant belly. They both were reading books on pregnancy. Mark walked in with his camera in hand.

"Close on the expectant parents who are reading everything possible on pregnancy." Mark said smiling.

"Hey Mark." Kelly said smiling at him.

"Someone's in a good mood." Mark said sitting down in the arm chair.

"I'm always in a good mood." Kelly said before going back to her book. Mark looked up at Roger who just shook his head.

"Roger could you get me some ice cream?" Kelly asked looking up at him. Roger nodded before leaning down and kissing her and gently lifting her up and setting her back down.

"How does it feel to have your own personal slave?" Mark asked smiling. Kelly smiled.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." She said as Roger came back with her ice cream.

"Here you go." Roger said as he helped Kelly sit up on the couch. After she finished her ice cream Kelly decided to go take a nap.

"So what's Kelly going to do about school?" Mark asked.

"She said she'd go back eventually. But right now she wants to focus on the baby." Roger said putting his feet up on the table.

"Are you guys going back to Scarsdale this weekend?" Marks asked.

"Yep. Everyone's going to be there. Becca's going to be back with her new flavor of the month." Roger said rolling his eyes. "Billy and Barb are going to be there too. And Ann and Nate are going to be there."

"I take it Mr. Keaton is on another business trip?" Mark said rolling his eyes.

"Yeah. I honestly don't know why Ann took his sorry ass back." Roger said. "I mean Nate doesn't even know the man. He's been away most of his life." Roger said disgustedly.

"Does he even know about Kelly?" Mark asked.

"She hasn't talked to him in months. But Ann knows so I'm assuming that she told him." Roger said. "I'll never do that to my child."

"Of course you won't." Mark said. "You'll love that baby with all your heart and soul. Your child will grow up knowing that not only do its parents love them, but it has an incredibly large extended family that loves them too."

"Yeah, like her uncle Markie." Roger said smiling.

"First off your baby will not be calling me Markie, and second you don't know that it's a girl." Mark said laughing.

"Mark I know that it's a girl. It's just this feeling that I have." Roger said smiling. "And if you don't want the baby to call you Markie, they could always call you Uncle Pookie." Mark shook his head and got up.

"I have to go meet Mo for lunch. I'll talk to you later." Mark said as he walked out the door. Roger decided to go lay down with Kelly. He quietly went into their bedroom and climbed into bed with her. When he put his hand on her stomach she woke up.

"Thought would could use some company." He whispered into her ear.

"You were right." She said scooting closer to him.

"Should we try the name battle again?" He asked laughing. Every time they started trying to come up with names it ended in Kelly throwing a large heavy object at Roger's head.

"If you actually want to take it seriously this time." Kelly said turning to face him.

"I still don't understand what you have against the name Fender." Roger said laughing. Kelly glared at him. "Ok. That was the last joke, I promise."

"Martin?" Kelly asked.

"No." Roger said shaking his head.

"Why don't we just name him Roger William Davis Jr. if it's a boy?" She asked.

"No way I hate that." He said.

"Billy is named after your dad." Kelly said.

"Do you really want our son to be like Billy?" Roger asked laughing.

"Roger your mean." Kelly said laughing.

"And I don't know why we're even discussing boy names when I know we are having a girl." Roger said rubbing her belly.

"Ok, what girl names to you like?" Kelly asked placing her hand over his.

"I was thinking that we could name her Elizabeth Bianca." Roger said looking Kelly in the eyes. "Elizabeth is Ann's middle name and Bianca was your mom's middle name."

"I love it." Kelly whispered holding back tears.

"I figured that we'd name her after two of the strongest and most loving women we know." He said. Kelly leaned over and kissed him.

"It's perfect." Kelly said. "But you're not off the hook with boys names."

"Ok. But right now all I want to do is take a nap. So how about we fight over the boys names at a later date." He said smiling as he pulled her closer. Kelly just nodded and with in minutes they were both asleep.

* * *

"Close on Kelly who's now eight months pregnant." Mark narrated as Kelly walked out of the bathroom.

"Mark can you please not film me?" She asked as she sat down on the couch.

"Kelly don't you want to remember being pregnant?" Mark asked from behind the camera.

"Yeah I really want to remember weighing two hundred pounds." Kelly said crossing her arms.

"You do not weigh that much." Maureen said sitting next to her.

"Says the woman that's barely one hundred pounds." Kelly said rolling her eyes.

"Kelly you know that your going to loose all that wait once the baby is born." Maureen said. "Plus you didn't even put on that much wait."

"I haven't seen my ankles in months." Kelly said loudly. "The only thing that I fit into is Roger's sweats and t-shirts. Hell I don't even fit into most of those. And don't even get me started on the fucking stretch marks. God Roger must think I'm hideous" She said as she crying. Maureen pulled Kelly into a hug.

"Kelly you're still beautiful. Roger has never been more in love with you then now." Maureen said trying to calm her down. Allison and Benny walked into the apartment, when Allison saw Kelly crying she ran over and sat on the other side of her.

"What's wrong?" Allison asked softly.

"Just me being a hormonal bitch." Kelly said wiping her eyes.

"She was upset because all she fits into now are Roger's big t-shirts and sweat pants." Maureen said.

"Well let's do something about that." Allison said standing up.

"What can we do?" Kelly asked.

"We are going shopping to get you some much needed maternity clothes. We should have done this so much sooner." Allison said.

"I can't afford to do that." Kelly said.

"Who said anything about you paying for it?" Allison asked with her hands on her hips.

"Allison, I'm not going to let you buy me new clothes." Kelly said.

"I'm doing this with or without your permission so I suggest you deal with it." Allison said. "You're my friend and this is what friends do for each other. We can have a girls day with me, you, and Maureen."

"I'm not going to win this am I?" Kelly asked.

"Nope." Allison said smiling as she helped her up.

"I thought we were going out?" Benny asked as the girls headed towards the door.

"Benny I'm needed." Allison said. "We'll be back soon." She said as they walked out the door.

"I can't wait till the baby comes and I get my girlfriend back." Benny said as he sat down on the couch.

"You do realize what will happen when the baby comes, right?" Mark asked laughing.

"What?" Benny asked.

"Then the girls are going to start fawning over the baby." Mark laughed. "Face it, we'll never fully get our girlfriends back." He laughed as Roger walked in the door.

"I hate you." Benny said glaring at Roger.

"What the hell did I do?" Roger asked confused.

"Benny's just pissed that his girlfriend blew him off to take Kelly and Maureen shopping." Mark said still laughing.

"Ok, that's my fault how?" Roger asked sitting down.

"Well if you would have kept Davis Jr. in your pants we wouldn't be in this situation right now." Benny said.

"I'm not even going to respond to that." Roger said rolling his eyes. "So Kelly's not here?"

"Nope you just missed them." Mark said.

"Ok, I'll be in my room working on Kelly's surprise." Roger said as he walked into the bedroom. Benny and Mark nodded knowing exactly what he was talking about.

A/N: Next chapter will be Kelly giving birth. I'm warning you that the chapters that follow it will be very emotional and sad. So this is your warning. I would like to once again thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story. This story wouldn't be anything without you. Next chapter will be up tomorrow night. Remember to review.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	16. Elizabeth Bianca Davis

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what's mine and what belongs to Jonathon Larson.

Kelly awoke to a horrible pain in her stomach. She sat up and took deep breathes waiting for it to pass. The baby was kicking all the time now and Kelly hadn't slept in weeks. She looked at the clock and saw that it was only eight in the morning. She looked at Roger peacefully sleeping next to her. She smiled and kissed his forehead as she carefully got out of bed. When she walked out she saw Maureen and Mark sitting on the couch. She walked into the bathroom, which was becoming the room she saw the most, and felt the baby kick. Only this time she also felt wetness between her legs. She looked down at the floor and saw a puddle there. Kelly hadn't even realized that she'd screamed until Maureen came bursting through the door.

"Oh my god." Maureen gasped. "Go wake Roger up now!" Maureen yelled as Mark ran to the bedroom. "Ok, Kelly let's stay calm and remember to do those breathing things you learned."

"It hurts so bad Mo." Kelly said crying.

"Don't worry everything will be ok." Maureen said trying to comfort her. "You'll be at the hospital soon." Roger burst into the bathroom and knelt down in front of him.

"Are you ok baby?" He asked. Kelly nodded trying to do the breathing tricks that were supposed to help.

"Mark, go get the Kelly's suitcase." Maureen said calmly as she took control of the situation. "Ok Roger let's get Kelly up so we can get going." Maureen said as they gently pulled Kelly to her feet. As soon as she stood up Kelly cried out in pain.

"Kelly!" Roger yelled trying to keep her from falling to the ground. Maureen saw the look of fear flash in his eyes.

"She'll be fine Roger." Maureen said soothingly. "Mark, hurry up!" She yelled. Mark came back and a minute later they were out the door. They hailed a cab, Mark got in the front seat while Maureen, Roger and Kelly got into the back. Kelly sat in the middle. Fifteen minutes later they were rushing into the hospital. Maureen had called Kelly's doctor before they left so the doctor was waiting for them.

"How far apart are the contractions?" The doctors asked as they put Kelly into the wheelchair.

"About seven minutes." Maureen said.

"Ok, let's get you into a room." The doctor said as she started wheeling Kelly down the hallway. Roger started to follow them but stopped.

"Can you…" He said turning around.

"I'll call everyone." Maureen said cutting him off. "Now go to Kelly. She needs you." Roger smiled and nodded and took off down the hallway after Kelly.

"Ok, Kelly we're going to give you the epidural now. But we need to have you sit up." The doctor said as the anesthesiologist came in. Kelly sat up and the doctor had Roger hold her to steady her. Kelly screamed out in pain.

"Mr. Davis are you ok?" One of the nurses asked him. Roger went pale when he saw them stick the needle in.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said sitting down in one of the chairs.

"Oh my god." Kelly said as she started to cry. Roger was by her side in an instant taking her hand in his.

"Just breathe baby." He said trying to calm her down. If looks could kill he'd be dead three times over with the look she gave him.

"Breath?" She yelled. "You want me to fucking breath? It's your fault that I'm here right now!" She yelled. Roger just sat there stunned. One of the nurses softly chuckled under her breath and mouthed 'it's normal'. Twelve and a half hours later and many threats against Roger's life, and one that graphically described Kelly removing a much needed body part of Roger's, Elizabeth Bianca Davis was welcomed into the world.

* * *

Roger held is baby girl as he waited for Kelly to be wheeled in. She had blue eyes like her mother but her facial features were all Roger. She had his nose and cheekbones. And her father's lungs, the baby could scream. Roger heard the door open and looked up to see them wheeling Kelly into the room. As soon as they hooked Kelly up to all the monitors and left, Roger walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.

"She's beautiful." He whispered as he sat back. Kelly smiled as rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yes she is." She said not taking her eyes off the baby. "You should go get everyone."

"But I want to stay here with you." Roger whined.

"I know, but everyone's waiting." She whispered. Roger looked at her and thought that she had never been more beautiful ever. He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"I'll go get them." He said carefully handing her the baby. Kelly nodded. When she looked up Roger was still standing there smiling.

"What?" She asked.

"You're beautiful." He said leaning down and kissing her. "Both of you."

"Roger, I look like shit right now." Kelly said looking down at the baby. Roger walked back over to her and gently lifted her face up so that she was looking at him.

"You are beautiful." He said kissing her once again. "Don't even think about arguing that." Kelly smiled. "Now I'm going to go get the three ring circus, I'll be right back." Kelly smiled as Roger walked out of the room. She looked down at her baby. She couldn't believe that she was someone's mother. That she had helped to bring a life into the world. She'd never been happier in her life.

"Elizabeth Bianca Davis." Kelly said smiling. She had thought about her mom a lot while she was pregnant. Whenever she got scared she would talk to her mom. It helped her calm her nerves. Roger had come up with the best name in the world for their daughter. Elizabeth was for Ann. Ann was such a great person and she'd been their for Kelly from the day she met her. And Bianca was for Kelly's mom, who was such a strong woman and such a fighter. If their daughter grew up to be half the woman that those women were then she would be an amazing person. Kelly heard Benny yell "Go Mama Davis." as they walked into the room

"Do you guys want to meet her?" Kelly asked smiling at everyone. "Everyone I would like you to meet Elizabeth Bianca Davis."

"Bianca?" Mrs. Davis asked with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, after my mom." Kelly said as the tears streaked down her cheeks.

"Close on Roger, Kelly, and baby Ellie." Mark said focusing on the happy family.

"Ellie?" Roger asked smiling.

"I don't know I was just seeing how it sounded." Mark shrugged.

"I like it." Roger said smiling as he looked at Kelly. "What do you think?"

"I love it." She said looking down at the baby girl. "Hi Ellie. Mommy and Daddy love you so much. You're a really lucky girl, you have so many people that are going to love you and look after you."

"Can I hold her?' Mrs. Davis asked. Kelly nodded and handed her the baby. Roger came back and climbed into bed next to Kelly, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her temple and pulled her close.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She said smiling as they watched everyone fawn over the baby.

"She's beautiful." Maureen said holding Ellie.

"Who thought that Roger would have a kid turn out that gorgeous?" Billy asked laughing.

"Fuck you." Roger said rolling his eyes.

"You better clean up your language young man." Mrs. Davis said sternly. "I will not have my grandbaby talking like her father."

"Ok, mom." Roger said laughing.

"I'm sorry but visiting hours are over now." The nurse said. Everyone hugged Kelly and Roger before walking out the door. Roger picked up Ellie and carried her over to the bed.

"She's so beautiful." Roger said sitting down on the bed.

"I know." Kelly said smiling as the baby yawned. "Someone's tired."

"I can't believe she's ours." Roger said with tears in his eyes.

"Well, she is." Kelly said gently wiping his tears away.

"I love you." He said kissing her.

"I love you too." She said smiling.

* * *

Collins had decided that the only way to celebrate Ellie's birth was to have a drink at The Life Café. They pushed the tables together and ordered a round of beer.

"I can't believe I'm an aunt." Becca said shaking her head.

"I can't believe that Roger's a dad." Barb said laughing. "But I can't say that I'm that surprised."

"What are you talking about?" Billy asked.

"Think about it, they've been in love for years, it was only a matter of time before they started a family and got married. Though they are doing it a bit backwards." Barb laughed.

"What gets me is that Roger Davis has a daughter." Benny laughed. "That girl is never going to date."

"If Roger doesn't make sure she doesn't I will." The group turned and saw Nick standing there.

"Hey! Where were you?" Mark asked.

"I just got back into town and when I got home I got the message that Kelly was in labor." Nick said sitting down. "So I went over there and then they told me I couldn't see them."

"Well you can go back tomorrow." Maureen said.

"Oh I saw her." Nick said smirking.

"How long were you in there before they kicked you out?" Collins asked laughing.

"Fifteen minutes." Nick laughed.

"Where's Ann?" Mark asked.

"Nate's sick right now and she didn't think it was a good idea to make him drive all the way out here in the car. She didn't want him to get sicker but tomorrow your mom said that she'd watch Nate so my mom could come out to see the baby." Nick said.

"Should I even bother asking where Kelly's dad is?" Benny said rolling his eyes.

"I'll give you one guess." Nick said.

"An emergency business trip." Benny said shaking his head. "You'd think that he'd want to be around for the birth of his grandchild."

"Yeah well you would also think that he'd want to try comforting his child after her mother died but we know that didn't happen." Nick said angrily.

"What do you mean?" Allison asked.

"You know that Kelly's mom died when she was thirteen, right?" Benny asked. Allison nodded. "Well about two hours after the funeral he said that he had to go on a business trip and that he needed to go that night."

"What a bastard." Allison said.

"Yeah pretty much." Benny said. "We really shouldn't be surprised. I would have been shocked had he actually showed up."

"What the hell is his deal?" Allison asked.

"I guess it's his way of dealing with his wife's death." Mark said.

"That's bullshit and you know it." Maureen said. "He uses that so that no one will call him out on him being such a lousy husband and father. He was this way long before Kelly's mom got sick."

"Ok enough with this talk." Collins said. "We are here to celebrate the newest addition to our family."

"I agree." Barb said.

"This calls for a toast." Collins said.

"Shocker." Maureen said laughing.

"A toast to the newest member of our family, Miss Elizabeth Bianca Davis, who will be the most spoiled little girl in the world." Collins said raising his glass.

"You forgot to say that she'll also be the most over protected little girl in the world." Mark laughed.

"Well that just goes without saying. I've heard what happened to Becca." Collins laughed.

"That poor little girl." Becca said shaking her head.

"What happened to you?" Allison asked.

"My brothers were assholes and would threaten any guy that I dated. When prom came around I had to go with Benny because he was the only one who wasn't scared of my brothers." Becca said.

"Thanks, Becca." Benny said laughing.

"Well you know what I mean." Becca laughed. "I asked Bobby Lansing and Joe Smith and they both said that they were afraid of what my brothers would do to him."

"They only wanted one thing Becca and me and Roger couldn't let that happen." Billy laughed.

"Whatever." Becca said rolling her eyes. "I think we should get going if we want to be sober enough to visit them first thing in the morning." Becca said standing up. Everyone else agreed and got up and went back to the loft.

A/N: I'm sorry this wasn't up last night like I said it would be. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys rock. I'll try to have the next chapter out tonight but I'm not making any promises. Remember to review.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	17. A Parents Worst Nightmare

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and what belongs to me.

A/N: This is a very emotional chapter. This is your warning.

Kelly heard Ellie crying and stumbled out of bed. When she was about to go into her room, Kelly stopped and smiled. She saw Mark was already in there with Ellie, he was sitting in the rocking chair gently rocking her back and forth. Kelly turned around and grabbed her camera before going back to the room taking a picture of them. Mark looked up startled but then smiled.

"Hey." He said softly trying not to wake the baby.

"Hey yourself." Kelly said smiling as she walked up next to him. "You didn't have to get up."

"I know. But I figured you and Roger could use some sleep." Mark said. "Plus I like sitting here with her."

"You're going to make a great dad some day." Kelly said smiling.

"Well me and Mo are happy just being Aunts and Uncles right now." Mark laughed.

"Godparents." Kelly said.

"What?" Mark asked looking up at her.

"Me and Roger decided that we want you two to be the godparents." Kelly said.

"I thought that you were going to make Nick Ellie's godfather?" Mark asked.

"Well we were thinking about it and then we decided since you and Maureen are the ones that have helped us out since the beginning, it made sese to have you guys be her godparents." Kelly said.

"We'd be honored too." Mark said smiling as he looked down at the baby. "Can you believe that she's this big already?"

"I know. Was it really only nine months ago that I had her?" Kelly laughed.

"Soon enough she'll be walking and talking." Mark said smiling.

"Her first words will be 'fuck off Cohen'." Kelly said laughing.

"Or it's going to be Fender." Mark laughed.

"She's going to be a little rock princess isn't she?" Kelly laughed before yawning.

"Probably." Mark said. "Go back to bed everything's fine here."

"Ok." Kelly said walking over and kissing the baby's head. "Night little one, be good for Uncle Mark." She said before going back into her and Roger's room.

"How's the baby?" Roger asked as Kelly climbed back into bed.

"Mark's got her, he told me to go back to bed because he had everything under control." Kelly said snuggling close to him.

"He's really attached to her isn't he?" Roger asked wrapping his arm around her.

"Yes he is." Kelly said smiling. "I told him that we wanted him and Mo to be her godparents."

"I thought we were going to wait a little while and tell them together." Roger asked.

"I know, but I saw him holding her and I just had to tell him." Kelly said. "Are you mad?"

"No." Roger said laughing. "But now I know that you can't keep a secret."

"Shut up." She said playfully hitting his chest.

"God you are so abusive." He said rolling on top of her.

"You know you like it." She said laughing.

"Yeah, but I like this better." He said leaning down and kissing her.

"I think that I like that better too." She said when he pulled away. Roger just smiled and leaned down and kissed her again.

* * *

Maureen walked out of her bedroom and saw Kelly sitting on the couch feeding Ellie.

"Can I feed her?" She asked sitting down next to her.

"Sure." Kelly said smiling as she handed the baby to Maureen.

"So do you think you and Mark will have kids?" Kelly asked smiling as she watched Maureen with her daughter.

"Yeah. Eventually." Maureen said looking up. "But no time soon."

"You and Mark would make wonderful parents." Kelly said.

"You think?" Maureen asked.

"Yes. I've seen the way you two act around Ellie." Kelly said smiling. "You would make fantastic parents."

"Thanks, that means a lot." Maureen said smiling. "But like I said before, we're nowhere near that."

"Well when the time comes I know you'll be ready." Kelly said standing up. "Would you mind watching her while I jump in the shower?"

"No problem." Maureen said.

"Thanks." Kelly said turning around and going into the bathroom. Mark walked out of the bedroom 10 minutes later.

"How are my two favorite girls?" He said smiling as he sat down next to them and wrapped his arms around Maureen.

"We're good." Maureen said. "Isn't she precious?"

"Yeah." Mark said. "I heard you and Kelly talking earlier."

"Oh." Maureen said not looking at him. Mark gently lifted her face to meet his.

"I can't wait till then." He said before kissing her softly. "Do you ever think about getting married?" Maureen's eyes went wide.

"Yes." She said quietly. "But I thought we would wait till after you were out of college."

"Mo, I dropped out last year." Mark said smiling. "I'm not saying that we should get married this week, but I don't know I was just thinking about it."

"I've been thinking about that too." Maureen said smiling. "But I still think we should wait a few years before anything like that."

"I know." Mark said leaning in and kissing her.

"Can you not corrupt my child?" Roger asked laughing walking into the loft. Mark pulled away and rolled his eyes.

"How was work?" Mark said ignoring his previous comment.

"Good." He said taking the baby from Maureen. "But I missed my girl." He said smiling down at the baby in his arms.

"Well we'll let you guys have father/daughter bonding time." Mark said taking Maureen's hand and leading her into the bedroom.

"How's daddy's little girl?" Roger asked smiling down at the baby. Kelly came out of the bathroom and sat down next to Roger.

"Hey baby." She said kissing his cheek.

"Hey." He said as he kissed her. "How was your day?"

"Good." She said. "I got a call from one of my old professors today."

"Really? What did they want?" Roger asked.

"He said that he showed some of my pictures to a friend of his and his friend wants to give me a job at this agency he runs." Kelly said smiling.

"That's amazing." Roger said putting Ellie in her portable crib. "We should celebrate." He said wrapping his arms around her.

"But who would watch Ellie?" She asked.

"Let's see. Mark, Maureen, Benny, Allison, Collins, Nick, would you like me to continue?" Roger asked laughing.

"We shouldn't just assume that they can watch her." Kelly said.

"Allison said the last time she was here that the next time we wanted to go out that she would do it no matter what." Roger said smiling. "I think she thinks that Ellie is going to like Mark and Maureen better then her so she wants to baby-sit as much as possible."

"Ok do you want to call her or should I?" Kelly asked wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'll call, you go get ready." He said kissing her before releasing her and going over to the phone.

"Hello?" Allison said picking up the phone.

"Hey Allison, it's Roger. I need a favor." He said.

"If it's watching Ellie I'll do it." She said.

"Really?" Roger asked.

"Yeah. Mark and Maureen already have an unfair advantage." Allison said laughing. "Besides I love spending time with my niece."

"Benny won't mind?" He asked.

"You think he gets a say in this?" She laughed.

"Ok. Can you be here in an hour?" Roger asked.

"No problem. I'll see you then." Allison said before hanging up. Roger picked up Ellie and put her down in the nursery for a nap. When he went back into the bedroom Kelly was laying down on the bed.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yeah." Kelly said getting up. "Just a little tired I guess."

"We don't have to go out if you don't want to." Roger said wrapping his arms around her.

"No. I really want to go out tonight." Kelly said wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Then we are going out." He said kissing her. "Now go get ready and we'll go." He said as he kissed her one last time before she walked out the door.

* * *

Kelly and Roger were laughing as they stumbled back into the loft.

"I had an amazing time." Kelly said wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I know so did I." Roger said picking her up and spinning her around.

"Roger put me down, we'll wake the baby." Kelly said laughing. Roger put her down and kissed her.

"I'm going to go check on the baby." He said. "Where do you think Allison and Benny are?" He said looking around at the empty loft.

"Maybe they went home and Mo and Mark are in their room." Kelly said going to Mark and Maureen's room.

"Roger their not here." Kelly said starting to panic. Roger came back out of the baby's room looking really pale.

"She's not in there." He said. He looked over at the answering machine and saw that the light was blinking. He hit the button and played the message.

"Roger, Kelly," Benny's voice filled the loft, you could tell that he was crying. "you need to get to the hospital now. The baby started running a fever and we had to take her in." Kelly burst into tears. "we're at St. Marks. Please hurry." Roger just stood there for a minute in a trance but when Kelly collapsed to the floor crying he snapped back to reality and ran over to her.

"Baby we have to hurry and get going." Roger said fighting the tears.

"We don't even know what happened." Kelly sobbed into his chest.

"I know." Roger said stroking her hair. "But that's why we need to get going."

"I'm so scared." She cried.

"Me too." He said as the tears fell. "Come on, let's go." He said standing up and helping her off the ground. They didn't say anything as the took a cab to the hospital, but you could hear their quiet sobs. When they pulled up to the hospital and got out and ran into the emergency room. They saw Mark, Maureen, Benny, Allison, and Collins sitting there with tears streaming down there face.

"What happened?" Roger asked.

A/N: Most of you know what the next chapter is. So prepare yourselves. Sorry that I didn't update like I said I would. I've had a mean case of writers block plus my family's been a little crazy. But I promise I will have the next chapter up tomorrow because I'm off of school. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, you rock. And once again special thanks to Renthead621 for helping with my writers block. Everyone remember to review!

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	18. Shattered

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to me and what belongs to Jonathon Larson.

A/N: This is your warning. This chapter is extremely sad.

"What happened?" Roger asked.

"She was in her play swing and I noticed that her head was kind of lulling to the side and when I picked her up she was burning up." Allison said breaking down. Benny wrapped his arm around her and tried to comfort her.

"When did this happen?" Roger asked trying not to break down.

"We just got here about twenty minutes ago." Mark said. "We didn't know where you were or we would have called." Roger and Kelly just nodded and went over to the nurse's desk.

"This is all my fault." Allison said crying.

"No it's not." Benny said trying to calm her down. "There was nothing you could have done to prevent this."

"I should have noticed sooner." She said crying. Benny pulled her closer and held her tighter.

* * *

Roger and Kelly stood at the nurse's station waiting for the doctor to come and talk to them.

"Why is this happening?" Kelly asked as she cried into his chest.

"I don't know." Roger said holding her. "But everything will be ok."

"I don't think I could handle this Roger." Kelly said clinging to him.

"Don't talk like that baby." Roger said as the tears poured out of his eyes. "we don't know anything yet."

"Mr. and Mrs. Davis?" A man said coming up to them. Roger pulled away slightly to wipe his eyes but still kept one arm around Kelly.

"Yes." Roger said.

"I'm Dr. Murphy. I'm the pediatric doctor working on your daughter." He said. "Your daughter was brought in with a 101 degree fever."

"What's wrong with her?" Kelly asked crying.

"Well with the high fever and the other symptoms we think that it's spinal menegitis." Dr. Murphy said.

"Will she be alright?" Roger asked.

"We're doing everything possible right now Mr. Davis." He said. "But I'm not going to lie to you, this is very serious."

"What do you mean?" Kelly asked.

"Even if we get her fever down there is still a possibility that there will be brain damage." Dr. Murphy said.

"Oh my god." Kelly said crying into Roger's chest again.

"I should be getting back in there. I'll send a nurse out when we have more news." He said before walking away. Roger took Kelly back into the waiting room and pulled her close.

"What did the doctor say?" Collins asked.

"They think that its spinal meningitis and that she could have brain damage." Roger said crying. Allison burst into tears and ran out of the waiting room.

"I should go after her." Benny said with tears in his eyes as he got up and left. Collins got up and went over to Kelly.

"It'll be ok." He said kneeling in front of her.

"What if it's not?" She asked looking down at him.

"You have to believe that it will be." He said hugging her. "Do you want me to call your parents?" Kelly and Roger nodded and Collins left to go make the phone call. When he was done with all the phone calls he went into the hospital chapel and sat in a pew.

"I know that I don't do this too often." He said with his hands clasped in front of him. "But I'm here now. Please let that precious girl be ok. I don't think any of us is strong enough to deal with that." He said crying. "You can't do this to Roger and Kelly. She's been through enough already, why would you make another person she loves sick like this? If you really want to take a life then take mine. I'm not going to be around much longer anyway. Ellie deserves a chance to grow up and be happy." Collins finally broke down. When he was finally able to calm himself down he stood up and placed his hands on the pew in front of him. "I'm begging you, if you want a life take mine." He said looking up at the ceiling. When Collins went back out into the waiting room Allison and Benny were back. Benny was holding her and rocking her back and forth as she silently sobbed.

"Your parents are on there way." Collins said. "Nick should be here any minute." As soon as he said that Nick came bursting through the doors.

"Kelly?" He called out. Kelly got up and collapsed into his arms. "It'll be ok." He said as he sat her back down in the chair and took a seat on the other side of her. An hour later the doctor came out again.

"Mr. and Mrs. Davis can I speak to you alone please?" he asked.

"Anything you have to say to us can be said in front of our family." Roger said. The doctor nodded before taking a deep breath.

"Your daughters fever spiked again which caused her to have a seizure." The doctor said. "I'm sorry we did everything we could." Kelly screamed and got up to run but Roger held her back. He pulled her as close as possible and held her as they cried. Nick sat there stunned while Benny held Allison and Mark held Maureen. Collins quietly slipped from the waiting room and made his way back to the chapel. He angrily shoved the doors open.

"I said take me!" He screamed into the empty chapel. "If you wanted to take someone so bad, why couldn't it be me?" He collapsed to the ground sobbing. "You had to take the life of an innocent child?" Collins didn't know how long he sat there crying but when he went back to the waiting room he noticed that Roger and Kelly weren't there.

"Where are Roger and Kelly?" He asked sitting down next to Nick.

"They went in to see her." Nick said trying to hold back his tears. Collins just nodded and put his head in his hands.

* * *

A nurse silently led Roger and Kelly into the room.

"Take as much time that you need." She said before turning around and leaving. They stood there for a minute before Roger gently squeezed her hand and started to move forward. Kelly stopped half way to the bed.

"I can't do this." She said before collapsing to the ground. Roger kneeled in front of her and pulled her close.

"We have to do this." He whispered through his tears.

"I can't." She sobs into his chest.

"Yes you can." He whispers. "I'll be right next to you." Kelly let out one more sob before slowly rising to her feet. Roger wrapped one arm around her waist and they slowly walked the last couple of feet to the bed. When they finally got to the side of the bed Kelly broke down completely. Roger stood there with tears running down his face. He gently reached out and took the baby's tiny hand in his.

"I'm sorry." He whispered leaning down and kissing her forehead. He felt Kelly move out of his reach and looked over at her. She reached down and gently picked the baby up.

"Mommy loves you." She cried. She kissed the baby before setting her back on the bed. "You go be an angel now." Kelly turned and ran from the room. Roger ran after her when he got to the hallway he saw her curled up out side the door crying. Roger sat down next to her and pulled her into his lap. They sat there sobbing together for who knows how long.

"We'll get through this, I promise." Roger whispered. Kelly didn't say anything just cried harder into his chest. Slowly Roger stood up with Kelly and walked back to the waiting room. When they got there they saw that Ann was there, when Kelly saw her she ran into her arms.

"It'll be ok." Ann said stroking her hair as Kelly sobbed. Roger just stood in the middle of the waiting room staring ahead, not really looking at anything. Collins got up and pulled him into a hug.

"Are you ok?" Collins asked. He realized that that was a stupid question but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I don't know." Roger said finally breaking down. "It hurts so bad." He cried.

"I know. But we'll get through this." Collins said. Though in his mind he wondered if they could get through this.

A/N: I'm crying right now. I've been dreading this chapter since I started this. You don't know how much it killed me to do this, but I had to. Thank you to all that have reviewed so far, you are amazing and I love you guys so much. Remember to review. I'm about to start on the next chapter right now, though it probably won't be up until tomorrow night. A big thanks to Renthead621, you are amazing. Thank you so much for helping me with my writers block. I'd be lost without you.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	19. Betrayal and The Turning Point

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent.

Kelly quietly walked back into her bedroom. She was starting her new job today, they had wanted her to start sooner but they understood that she needed some time. She was almost relieved to go back to work. She couldn't be in the loft anymore. It was so painful to be there sometimes. She had just stopped bursting into tears when she walked by Ellie's room though. It had been a month already and she still felt like she was dying inside. And it wasn't getting any easier. Roger was distant, even when they were laying in bed together it felt like he was miles away from her. Benny had unofficially moved out. They'd see him occasionally but he seemed to be avoiding them. Allison tried coming over as much as possible but that became difficult with Benny avoiding them. Maureen was also acting different, she seemed to be out all the time now. Mark was always out filming even more so than before. And Collins would be gone soon. He got a teaching position at MIT. Everything had changed so dramatically the past month. But then again how could it not? Kelly sighed and walked over to the bed and gently sat down next to Roger.

"I'm about to leave." She whispered leaning down and gently kissing him. Roger's eyes fluttered open.

"What time will you be home?" He asked sitting up.

"Probably not till five." She said.

"I have sound check at four thirty and I won't get back till late." He said.

"I forgot that you're playing tonight. Do you want me to come?" She asked hopefully.

"No. You should probably just rest." He said not looking at her. "Besides we're playing at a shity bar."

"Oh ok." She said sadly. "I'll see you when you get home then." She said leaning forward and kissing him. "I love you."

"I love you too." He said. Kelly got up and walked out into the living room. She grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

* * *

Mark was sitting on the couch when Collins came back.

"Hey." Collins said sitting down next to him.

"Hey. What's up?" Mark asked.

"Nothing much. I talked to the people at MIT, they want me there in two months." Collins said.

"We're going to miss you man." Mark said.

"I'll be back all the time, don't worry. I just think I need to get away for awhile." Collins said. "Plus it's a great opportunity."

"Yeah I know." Mark said absentmindedly. Collins could tell that something was bothering him.

"You want to talk about it?" Collins asked.

"It's just Roger." Mark said. "He didn't cry. I mean he did in the hospital but I haven't seen him cry once since then. That can't be healthy."

"I know. I'm worried about him too." Collins said. "I think he's bottling everything up so he can be strong for Kelly."

"I know but what's going to happen when he finally explodes?" Mark asked. "And I'm really worried about her too."

"I know but they just lost their child, it's going to take a long time for them to get over that." Collins said.

"I just have this really bad feeling Collins." Mark said shaking his head.

"It's going to get better. We just have to learn to get past it." Collins said. "Like we did with Steven."

"This is different." Mark said. "Everyone wasn't blaming themselves for his death."

"It wasn't your fault, Mark." Collins said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I know that." Mark sighed. "But tell that to Allison or Maureen or Kelly and Roger. You know they think that what happened was their fault. That they should have realized that she was sick sooner."

"Everyone needs a little healing time." Collins said standing up. "You mind if I go lay don for a little bit?"

"No, I was about to go film anyway." Mark said getting up. "I'll talk to you later." He said grabbing his camera and walking out the door. Collins walked into his room and closed the door. Neither of them realizing that Roger had heard there entire conversation.

* * *

Roger sat at the bar after his set with a beer in front of him. He knew that he should be going back home because Kelly was waiting up for him. But he couldn't bring himself to leave. He was beginning to hate being at the loft. Even though they put all of Ellie's things in storage at Roger's parent's house he couldn't help but see her whenever he looked around the loft.

"Hey, man what are you still doing here?" His bassist Craig asked.

"Just drinking." Roger said ordering a shot of whiskey. "Why?"

"You usually are running out of here to get home to your girl." Craig shrugged.

"Yeah well tonight I feel like drinking." Roger said downing the shot and ordering another one.

"Ok, well I'll see you tomorrow." Craig said getting up and walking away. Roger down three more shots before he heard someone sit down next to him. He turned and the girl he had noticed earlier while he was playing was sitting there.

"Hi." She said smiling.

"Hi." Roger said smiling a little bit.

"I'm April." She said sticking out her hand.

"Roger." He said shaking her hand.

"You were great tonight." She said ordering a rum and coke.

"Glad you liked the show." He said. They spent the next two hours talking. Roger getting more and more drunk with each passing minute.

"You want to go back to my place?" She asked placing her hand on his thigh.

"Sure." He slurred as April took his hand and led him out of the bar.

Roger opened his eyes and felt like he was going to be sick. He wasn't in the loft but there was someone curled up next to him. He looked down and saw the redhead from earlier. Roger sighed and slowly untangled himself from her. He looked over at the table and saw needles lying there. That's when he remembered everything that had happened once they got back to the apartment. He quickly found he closed and got dressed. He looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was five thirty. If he hurried up he could make it home before everyone got up.

* * *

Roger silently walked up the stairs towards the loft when he opened the door he saw Kelly sitting up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She looked up when the door opened, she had tears streaming down her face.

"Where were you?" She asked quietly.

"I crashed on Craig's couch for a little bit." Roger said walking over to her.

"Don't lie to me." Kelly said angrily.

"I'm not." Roger said.

"When you didn't come home I called everyone in the band. They said that you were still at the bar when they left." Kelly yelled.

"So you're fucking checking up on me?" Roger yelled.

"I was worried sick!" Kelly yelled standing up. "You never do anything like this. I thought something had happened to you."

"Whatever." Roger said walking away.

"Was screwing some little whore worth it?" Kelly spat angrily. Mark, Maureen, and Collins all came out of their rooms.

"Yeah actually it was." Roger said turning around once again.

"Roger!" Maureen yelled. "What the hell is your problem?" She said running over to Kelly and wrapping her arms around her.

"Her." Roger said glaring at Kelly before slamming the door to their room. Kelly burst into tears.

"Why don't you go lay down in my room." Maureen said gently leading Kelly into the bedroom. Mark looked at Collins and shook his head.

"I knew something bad was going to happen." He said sitting down on the couch.

"We just need to talk to him." Collins said. "He just needs a wake up call."

"No he needs to be smacked." Maureen said coming out of the bedroom.

"How is she?" Mark asked.

"She cried herself to sleep within minutes, what does that tell you?" Maureen asked sitting down on the couch.

"Well I guess we're sleeping on the couch?" Mark said. Maureen just nodded.

"Their just going through a rough patch. They'll make it." Mark said kissing her head.

* * *

Roger rolled over and looked at the clock, it was two in the afternoon. He slowly got up and made his way out of the bedroom.

"Is Kelly here?" Roger asked.

"No asshole, she's at work." Maureen said getting up and walking out the door.

"Bitch." Roger muttered under his breath.

"Shut up Roger." Collins said. "She has every right to be pissed at you."

"I fucked up, I know that. But she doesn't need to involve herself in my business." Roger said.

"Well she was the one that was comforting Kelly last night while she cried herself to sleep, so I think it's her business too." Collins yelled. Roger stood stunned, Collins never yelled like that. "You need a reality check real quick."

"You don't understand." Roger said turning to walk away.

"Don't tell me I don't understand." Collins yelled. "You think it's any different for us? You think it didn't kill us inside too? Well it did." Collins said breaking down into tears.

"Collins I didn't" Roger said but Collins cut him off.

"You need to apologize to her and have that never happen again." Collins said before leaving.

* * *

Kelly walked into the loft and saw Roger sitting on the couch. Without even acknowledging him she walked towards the bedroom.

"I'm sorry." He said from the couch. Kelly turned around.

"You should be." Kelly said crossing her arms.

"I was drunk and I know that's not a good enough excuse but it's what happened." Roger said still not looking at her. "I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

"Will you be sorry when it happens again?" Kelly asked angrily. Roger winced.

"It won't happen again." Roger said getting up and facing her. "I don't want anyone else. I love you. I did something stupid and I'm sorry for that. It won't happen again." He said slowly walking over to her.

"Why?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

"I just needed to forget and I started drinking, then one thing led to another." Roger said standing in front of her looking at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"I believe you." She whispered. Roger looked up at her. "But I swear to God if it ever happens again I'll leave you. I don't care if you swear it won't happen again. I'll walk right out that door and I won't come back. I don't care how much I love you if you ever do that again you'll never see me again." Roger wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"It won't happen again." He said as he buried his face in her neck. Kelly nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm kind of tired, do you want to lay down with me for a little bit?" She asked pulling away from him slightly. Roger nodded and led her into the bedroom. As soon as they got into the bed Roger wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

* * *

A month had passed and nothing had changed. Roger was still staying out until all hours of the night while Kelly threw herself deeper into her work. She knew that he was cheating on her. But she couldn't bring herself to leave. She was sitting at her desk looking over some pictures when she heard a knock on her door.

"Can I come in?" Jake, her boss, asked standing in the doorway.

"Sure." Kelly said motioning for him to sit down.

"Ok." He said sitting down. "I was talking to a friend of mine out in LA and he was wondering if I had anyone who was showing a lot of promise. He wants some fresh talent. And the first person that came to mind was you."

"I'm honored that you think I'm good." Kelly said.

"I only speak the truth." Jake said smiling. "You'd be in LA for three months though. Do you think you could handle that?"

"Can you give me a day or two to think about it?" Kelly asked.

"Of course. Let me know by the end of the week." Jake said getting up and walking out of the office. Kelly sat there thinking about what Jake had offered her. Sighing she got up and gathered her stuff. She needed to talk to Roger.

A/N: Another chapter closer to the end. This story will probably be done within the next two weeks. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. You're awesome. And another special thanks to Renthead621 for helping with my writers block yet again. Next chapter might be up tonight, if not it will be up tomorrow. Remember to review!

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	20. Distance Makes The Heart Grow Fonder?

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent.

Kelly was surprised to see Roger sitting on the couch when she walked in the door.

"Hey." He said setting his guitar down.

"Hey." She said sitting next to him. "I need to talk to you."

"What about?" He asked.

"Well my boss has a friend who's looking for upcoming photographers. And my boss told him about me." She said.

"That's amazing." Roger said smiling. It was the first time that she saw him smile in months.

"But there's one drawback." Kelly said looking at the floor.

"What?" He asked.

"I'd have to be in LA for three months." Kelly said. Roger got up angrily and started to walk away.

"So your going to run." Roger said angily.

"I'm not running." Kelly tried to say calmly. "It's a great opportunity and I'll be back in three months."

"Running. That's exactly what your doing." Roger yelled. "You can't handle it so you're leaving."

"And you're handling everything perfectly?" Kelly yelled. "Your out till five in the morning every night. You come home smelling like booze, and I know that you've been getting high and fucking that whore." Kelly yelled. Roger's fist flew into the wall.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Roger yelled. "You barely left the room for a month and the second you did you start working so much that your never home."

"I've waited up for you every night for the past month. What the hell do you want from me?" Kelly yelled.

"I want the person that I fell in love with back." He yelled. Kelly didn't say anything right away.

"So do I." Kelly said before rushing passed him into their bedroom and slamming the door shut. Roger sat down on the couch with his head in his hands. He slowly got up and walked over to the door.

"Kelly, can we talk?" Roger asked knocking on the door.

"Just let me be alone for awhile." Kelly said crying.

"Fine." Roger said angrily. He grabbed his coat and slammed the door on his way out. Maureen came in a little while latter. She saw the hole in the wall and immediately went to Kelly and Roger's room.

"Kelly?" She asked knocking on the door. She heard someone get up off the bed and walk across the floor. When Kelly opened the door her eyes were swollen and red.

"What happened?" Maureen asked pulling Kelly into a hug.

"Me and Roger got into a fight." Kelly said quietly.

"About what?" She asked leading her over to the couch.

"I got this offer to go to LA. It's this great opportunity." Kelly said not looking at her. "Roger says that I'm running."

"Are you thinking about taking it because you want to get away from everything or because it's an opportunity to help your craft?" Maureen asked.

"I guess it's a little bit of both." Kelly said wiping her eyes. "Maybe me and Roger need some time apart."

"The only thing that I can tell you is to do what ever you think is right." Maureen said. Kelly nodded.

"I think I'm going to go see Nick." Kelly said standing up. "Thanks for listening."

"It's what I'm here for." Maureen said as Kelly walked out the door. As soon as Kelly walked out of the loft Maureen burst into tears. When Mark came home an hour later she was still crying.

"Mo, what's wrong?" He asked rushing over to her.

"It's all falling apart." She said sobbing.

"What do you mean?" He asked pulling her closer to him.

"Our family is slowly dying." Maureen cried. "First Steven then Ellie. Benny and Allison are practically gone. Collins is at MIT. Roger is slowly slipping away and now Kelly's leaving."

"What are you talking about Kelly leaving?" He asked.

"She got this job thing in LA. She's going to be gone for three months." Maureen said pulling away.

"But she'll come back." Mark said trying to comfort her. Maureen started shaking her head.

"No she won't." Maureen said crying.

"Yes she will." Mark said. "Maybe this is what they need to go back to how they used to be."

"They'll never be like they used to." Maureen said pulling away. "I need to go for a walk." She said practically running out the door. Mark just sat there. He felt like his world was crashing down around him. He was loosing all the people he cared about. Even Maureen. She was slowly starting to become more and more distant. And if he really thought about it, so was he. He thought back to when they first became a family. When Collins and Steven came into their lives. That was when the truly were happy and together. Steven dying tore a small hole in the family and Ellie's death ripped it wide open. Mark didn't even want to think about how much worse things would get before they got better.

* * *

Kelly sat in her bedroom finishing up the last of her packing. Tomorrow she was getting on a plane. She looked around the room that held many memories. She looked at the bed and saw her and Roger laying there with Ellie between them, just watching as their baby slept.

"Hey." Roger said softly standing in the doorway. "You ready to go?" Kelly nodded and stood up. Everyone had decided to meet at The Life and have a going away party. "Are you excited?"

"I guess." Kelly shrugged. "I'm going to miss you guys." She said looking him in the eye. Roger wrapped her in a tight hug.

"We'll be here when you get back." He said placing a soft kiss to the side of her head. For that one night they truly thought that everything was going to be ok. They walked hand in hand to The Life Café, everyone smiled as they walked in.

"Ok, now that Roger and Kelly are here will you please tell us your news?" Collins asked turning to Benny and Allison. Benny looked at Allison and smiled.

"We're getting married." Allison shouted excitedly.

"That's great!" Kelly exclaimed as she ran over and hugged her.

"I really wanted to tell you before you left." Allison said hugging her back. "Sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Kelly asked pulling away.

"This is supposed to be your night." Allison said.

"It's fine." Kelly said. "I'm so happy for the both of you." Everyone congratulated Benny and Allison. While everyone was talking Kelly quietly slipped outside for a cigarette. Kelly sat on one of the old crates looking up at the sky when she heard the door open, Roger came over and sat down next to her.

"Do you think we can make it?" He asked looking at the ground.

"Yes." Kelly said without hesitation though she wasn't looking at him. "We just need some time to work past this." Roger nodded and lit his cigarette.

"You realize that this is the first time we'll be apart more than a few days in nearly twenty two years?" Roger asked looking at her with tears in his eyes. Kelly leaned forward and rested her forehead against his.

"You know what they say, distance makes the heart grow founder." She said with a sad smile. Roger leaned forward and gently kissed her before standing up.

"We should probably head back in" He said tossing his cigarette aside and holding out his hand for her. Kelly did the same and let him pull her up. They walked back into The Life hand in hand. No one realized that that night was the end of the golden days.

A/N: Ok guys I want you to prepare yourselves for the next chapter. It's going to get really emotional. The chapters that follow the next are going to follow each character and their thoughts on what happens. I can't wait for you guys to read it. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Remember to review this time. Next chapter will be up tomorrow.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	21. The Breaking Point

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent.

A/N: I'm just warning you that this chapter is really sad.

Mark sat on the couch trying to write a new screenplay, but nothing was coming to him. His mind couldn't focus on anything. Kelly had been gone a month and Roger was slipping more and more into the world of drugs. The night that Kelly left Roger started having nightmares. He wouldn't tell anyone what they were about but Mark knew that they were about Ellie. He'd heard him crying in his sleep about the baby crying. A week after Kelly left he started going out to the bars again. One night he brought a girl back to the loft. Mark thanked god that Maureen was back in Scarsdale visiting her parents. If she would have been there it would have been really bad. When Mark tried to talk to him about it Roger yelled that it was none of his business and then left for three days. He couldn't talk to Maureen about it. Benny wasn't around and neither was Collins. He didn't know if he should tell Kelly. He talked to her on the phone every few days. She said that she couldn't wait to get back, but she was having a great time. Mark just wished she'd hurry up and get back. Then everything would be ok again. Mark heard the door open and saw Allison walk in.

"Hey stranger." Mark said as he got up and hugged her.

"Hi Mark." Allison said hugging him back. "How have you been?"

"I've been good." Mark said. Allison gave him a look.

"What's wrong?" She asked sitting down on the couch.

"It's nothing." Mark said sitting down next to her. Allison gave him another look. Mark sighed. "It's Roger."

"What happened now? I thought he was doing better?" Allison asked.

"I didn't want to worry everyone." Mark said. "He's been drinking a lot and he brought a girl home last weekend."

"What?" Allison asked shocked. "He wouldn't do that to Kelly." She said shaking her head.

"I wish I was lying." Mark said looking at the ground.

"Have you told Kelly?" Allison asked.

"No." Mark said. "I think that when she gets back then everything will start getting better again."

"Mark things aren't bad because she left. They started getting bad before that." Allison said.

"I know. I just keep hoping that she'll come back and everything will be ok again." Mark said.

"Me too." She said.

"I really don't want to talk about this right now." Mark said wanting to change the subject. "So what brings you by?"

"Well I wanted to know if you are defiantly going to be in the wedding." Allison said.

"Of course." Mark said. "I'd be honored to stand up for him as his best man." Allison smiled and hugged him. "I know he wanted Roger to be his best man though."

"Benny wants you as his best man." Allison said. "He actually wanted just to have all three of you be his best man, but my father is an ass."

"I know. I just wish that Roger was together enough to do it." Mark said.

"Well maybe he'll straighten out in time for him to still be part of the wedding." Allison said. "But Benny does consider you his best friend."

"I know. That means a lot." Mark said. "And once again don't worry, I'm happy doing this for you."

"You don't know how much this means to us." Allison said. "Can you have Maureen call me when she gets back? We need to set up a fitting for her."

"Ok." Mark said nodding.

"Well I'm going to get going. Remember if you need anything at all or even just need to talk you know you can call us." She said leaning down to hug him.

"I will. Maybe we can all get together tonight. You know kind of like old times." Mark said as she walked to the door.

"I would like that." Allison said smiling before shutting the door. Roger came stumbling in an hour and a half later.

"Where were you?" Mark asked looking up.

"Out." Roger snapped as he headed to his room and slammed the door. Mark shook his head and went out to go film.

* * *

Allison smiled as she walked out of Benny's old room. After they went to The Life last night they had decided to crash at the loft. It felt good to hangout with Mark and Maureen. She just wished that Kelly, Roger, and Collins had been there. Though Collins should be coming back from MIT around the time that Kelly came back. Allison shook her head and poured her coffee. Roger hadn't showed up last night. They told him where they would be and that he should join them, but he never showed. Allison sighed and sat on the couch, waiting for Benny to get up. Mark had left a note saying that he went out filming and that Maureen was on an audition. Allison heard the door open and looked up expecting to see Mark or Maureen, her jaw dropped when she saw who it was.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed running over and hugging Kelly.

"Hi Ally." Kelly said hugging her tight. "It's so good to see you."

"What are you doing back?" Allison asked shocked.

"They gave me the week off and I decided to come out here." Kelly said smiling.

"Did you cut your hair?" Allison asked noticing that Kelly's long blonde hair was now up to her shoulders.

"Yeah do you like it?" Kelly asked.

"It looks great." Allison said hugging her again. "You have know idea how much we missed you."

"I know I missed you guys too." Kelly said. "I'm going to go wake up Roger."

"Ok. I'll go wake Benny up and we can all go out to breakfast." She told her as she walked into the bedroom. Kelly went into the bathroom first. She made sure that her hair looked good and that she didn't need to reapply her make up. She was wearing a new denim skirt and knee high boots that she bought in LA. She wanted to look good when she surprised Roger. Being in LA made her want to fix things with Roger even more than before. She realized how much she needed him and how much she loved him while she was out there. She was willing to do what ever it took to fix things. That's why she came back early to see him. She looked at herself on last time in the mirror before heading towards their bedroom. When she opened the door it felt like she'd been shot. Roger was lying there naked with some girl.

"What the hell!" Kelly shouted as she flung the door the rest of the way open. Roger stumbled out of bed and quickly put on his boxers.

"What the fuck?" He said slurring and standing up. "Get the hell out." He yelled.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" She yelled getting in his face.

"Get the hell out of this house." April yelled getting up she covered herself with a sheet. "You're not welcome here."

"Listen bitch, this is my house." Kelly yelled as she lunged for her, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and pull her back.

"Just take a breathe Kel." Benny said holding her back.

"Kelly?" Roger asked dazed like he didn't recognize her. Kelly looked at the table beside the bed and saw needles.

"Are you really that high that you didn't even recognize me?" Kelly asked with tears in her eyes. She broke out of Benny's grip and ran out of the apartment.

"I'm going to go after her." Allison said to Benny. Before she left she turned and glared at Roger and April. Benny turned around and glared at the two of them.

"Get your stuff and get the hell out." Benny said glaring at April.

"Who the fuck are you? You don't even live here anymore." April said rolling her eyes.

"Actually technically I do still live here." Benny said. "And I own this building so I can tell you to do whatever the hell I want." April turned and grabbed her clothes and walked into the bathroom.

"I'll see you later baby." She said when she came out of the bathroom dressed.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Benny yelled once she left the loft.

"Fuck you Benny." Roger said pushing past him. "I'm sure that she was nothing but an angel out in LA." Roger said sarcastically.

"She would never do that to you." Benny yelled as he shoved him back. "For some reason she still loves you, even though you've become nothing but a worthless piece of shit junkie." Roger shoved him back.

"You don't know anything!" He yelled. "You don't know what it's like."

"I don't know what it's like?" Benny shouted. "You think I didn't fucking cry myself to sleep when we lost her? I did! I held Allison as she balled for weeks thinking that it was all her fault. Don't tell me that I don't know."

"Your nothing but a yuppie sell out." Roger yelled as Benny walked to the door. "Have a nice life with Muffy."

"I'm done." Benny said shaking his head before walking out the door.

* * *

By the time Allison got out of the apartment Kelly was nowhere to be found. Allison tried thinking of all the places she would go if she was upset. Then she realized that she was probably at Nick's. Twenty minutes later she was walking into Nick's apartment building. She hoped that Nick was home if Kelly had gone there. She knocked on the door and a minute later Nick opened the door.

"Is she here?" Allison asked when he opened the door. Nick nodded and stepped aside. She saw Kelly curled up on the couch crying. Allison rushed over to her.

"Sweetie are you ok?" She asked holding her as she cried.

"Why?" Kelly asked crying.

"I don't know sweetie. I wish I did but I don't." Allison said wanting to cry. She looked over at Nick who was pacing around the apartment. His fists were white because he was clenching them so tight.

"He doesn't love me anymore does he?" Kelly asked.

"Of course he loves you." Allison said stroking her hair. "He's just going through a really bad time right now. We need to get him help." Kelly nodded and cried harder. "Sweetie, why don't you lay down for awhile? It might make you feel better." Kelly nodded once again and Allison helped her stand up.

"You can lay down in my room." Nick said pointing to one of the doors. Allison carefully led her to the bedroom. She came out five minutes later.

"She's out." Allison said softly.

"Do you think you could stay with her for awhile?" Nick asked. "I don't want her to be alone right now."

"Yes, of course." Allison said. "Why?"

"I need to go do something." Nick said grabbing his jacket.

"Don't do anything stupid." Allison said.

"I just need to do something for my sister." Nick said walking out of the apartment.

* * *

Nick walked into the loft looking for Roger. No one was in the living room so he went over to the bedroom he pushed open the door and saw Roger sitting on the bed with a needle in his arm.

"What the hell?" Roger said dropping the needle. Nick stormed over to the bed and grabbed him throwing him into the wall.

"What do you think your doing?" Nick yelled as he slammed him into the wall once again.

"None of your business." Roger yelled trying to break free of his grip.

"It's my business when my sister is at my house crying her eyes out over finding you with some fucking whore." Nick yelled slamming him into the wall.

"You know what? I don't need this." Roger said finally breaking free and storming over to his dresser and grabbing money.

"Yeah going out and buying more of that shit is what's going to make everything better." Nick said. "That's the reason that you're in this mess right now."

"You all pretend like you know what it's like, but you don't." Roger said quietly before turning to leave.

"Kelly knows." Nick said. Roger stopped walking.

"She has her ways, I have mine." Roger said as he started to walk again. Nick grabbed him again.

"Think real hard about all the people that you'll hurt if you go out and do that." Nick yelled as he tightened his grip. "Your mom, dad, Becca, Billy, Lindsey. Not to mention my sister and all your friends. What are they going to tell your twelve year old sister when they find you dead in a gutter?"

"That won't happen." Roger said trying to pull out of his grip. "Why don't you just leave me the fuck alone?"

"Because I'm not going to let you destroy yourself and take my sister down with you." Nick yelled.

"Then tell your sister to take a fucking walk." Roger yelled. Nick raised his fist and was about to hit him. Roger didn't even flinch.

"You know what?" Nick said dropping his arm. "I could beat the shit out of you right here and now but you know what? What you're doing to yourself is a far worse thing." He said letting him go. Before he left he turned around and said one last thing.

"You know one day this path your on will lead to your downfall. I hope you stop yourself before that happens." Nick said before turning and walking out the door. Roger waited ten minutes, he looked at the money in his hands and walked out of the loft.

* * *

Benny and Maureen walked into Nick's apartment. When Benny got to Allison's she had left a message telling him to come over to Nick's. On the way he ran into Maureen and told her what happened.

"Where is she?" Maureen asked.

"In the bedroom." Allison said pointing to one of the doors. Maureen nodded and went in.

"What happened after I left?" Allison asked.

"We yelled and shoved each other then I walked out." Benny said sitting down on the couch.

"We need to get him help." Allison said sitting down next to him.

"We can't help someone who doesn't want help." Benny said shaking his head.

"There has to be something that we can do." Allison said.

"I think the best thing we could do is distance ourselves from the situation and hope for the best." He said.

"You can't be serious." Allison said shocked. "You just want to cut ties with all our friends? Their like our family."

"Their not our only friends." Benny said. "I think that would be for the best baby."

"No. Abandoning your friends in their time of need is not for the best. We need to stick it out and help them through this. Like they would do if we needed help." Allison said standing up and starting to pace around. "God you sound like my father."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Benny asked. Allison stopped and looked at him.

"Are you kidding me? My father only cares about one thing, and that's money. He doesn't have a loyal bone in his body." Allison said shaking her head.

"I think I'm going to go out for a walk. I need to clear my head. I'll come back here in a little bit." Benny said kissing her cheek. Allison nodded and watched as he walked out the door.

* * *

"Kelly?" Maureen asked shutting the door behind her.

"Hi." She said still crying. Maureen sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry." Maureen said quietly.

"It's not your fault." Kelly said quietly.

"I don't know what to say." She said brushing some hair out of her face. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Kelly said crying. "I love him so much, it hurts. How could he do this?"

"I wish I knew sweetie." Maureen said.

"I think I need to go back to LA and clear my head for a little bit. Finish up with my job and then go from there." Kelly said wiping her eyes.

"If that's what you need to do, then you need to do it." Maureen said with tears in her eyes. She couldn't help but feel like she was loosing her best friend.

"I need to go make a phone call. See when the first flight I can get to LA is" Kelly said standing up.

"You're going to leave so soon?" Maureen asked sadly. "Why don't you stay for a day or two? We can hangout. I missed you."

"I missed you too, Mo." Kelly said hugging her. "But I can't be in the same city as him right now." Maureen nodded and followed Kelly out of the bedroom. Kelly took the phone back into the bedroom to make her phone calls so Maureen sat down next to Allison.

"I can't believe him." Maureen said shaking her head angrily. "What I would give to get my hands on that bitch."

"You and me both." Allison agreed. "Everything is going to hell isn't it?"

"We'll get through it." Maureen said putting an arm around her. "I know we will."

"Can you believe that a year ago we were all so happy?" Allison asked sadly.

"I know. But things happen, you learn from them, you grow, and then you move on." Maureen said. She wasn't sure who she was really trying to convince, herself or Allison.

* * *

Kelly stood outside the airport ready to say goodbye again. Mark, Benny, and Nick had come back shortly after she found out that there was a flight to LA in two hours. She hugged everyone goodbye and promised to call. As she boarded the plane she couldn't help but think how final this goodbye sounded. Everything was so different then the last time she got onto a plane. She was happy then, Roger and her had started working things out. Kelly started to become angry with herself. Maybe if she hadn't left things wouldn't have turned out like this. But things had gotten bad long before she went to LA. She closed her eyes and sighed. She just needed time to clear her head and then she would come back and make everything right again.

* * *

Maureen watched as Kelly walked away. She turned and looked up at Mark with tears in her eyes.

"She's not coming back." She said as tears started to fall. Mark gently used his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

"Yes she will." Mark said. "She just needs some time." He said gently kissing her.

"I really wish I believed that." She said looking off into the distance.

A/N: That was one of the hardest chapters I've written so far. I hope you guys liked it. I know it was really sad and dramatic but it had to be done. I am so sorry that this wasn't up last night. I've been having some bouts with writers block lately. But I promise that I'll do my best to update this weekend. Ok the next couple of chapters are going to be a little bit different. I'm going to write each chapter from a different characters point of view. It's going to show how Ellie dying affected them and how Kelly and Roger breaking up and Kelly leaving also affected people. Also it's going to show how Roger's drug use and withdrawl and April's suicide affected everyone.And it's going to jump showing different scenes that made them who we saw in the play. Within the chapters it's going to jump forward in time a lot, I'll do my best to tell you how much time has elapsed. I'm going to start with Allison. I'm really excited about writing those chapters. I can't wait to see what you guys think of it. I want to thank everyone again for reading and reviewing. It makes my day to hear what you guys think. Another big thanks to Renthead621, you are awesome, thank you so much for helping me with my writers block and just being an awesome friend. I can't wait to see what you thought of this chapter. This story is coming to a conclusion very soon. I'd say that within the next two weeks it will be done. And once I'm done with this story I will be finally returning to Time Flies. I know that a lot of you are anxious to see what will happen in that story. Remember to review guys! I love hearing what you think. If anyone has any questions or concerns about any of my stories feel free to PM. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up tomorrow sometime.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	22. Allison

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent.

**A/N: **Huge thanks to Renthead621 for all her help with this chapter!

**Allison**

I sit looking at a picture taken a little over a year ago. It was just a random day at the loft. Everyone was there, and we were smiling and laughing. Now we barley speak to each other. Kelly called once since she left and that was when her plane landed. She's been gone for nearly two months. Sometimes I still think it's all my fault. If I had been watching Ellie more closely then she wouldn't have died, then Roger wouldn't have been going out and would have never met that girl, I'm told her name is April. And then Kelly would still be here and we would still be a family. I remember that first night that we all went out together.

_Flashback_

_Allison walked with the group as they walked into a club. She was nervous to go out with Benny's friends, she knew how close they were and she didn't know if they would be welcoming towards her. Roger had been really nice when she met him. She hadn't really talked much with anyone else. As soon as they got into the club they found a table big enough to fit their entire group. Allison went to sit down but Kelly grabbed her hand._

"_What are you doing?" Kelly asked laughing._

"_Sitting down?" Allison asked confused._

"_The boys just sit here and talk about boring shit. Come out on the dance floor with me and Mo." Kelly said smiling._

"_Ok." Allison said following them. After they danced to a few songs Maureen dragged them over to the bar._

"_So how did you and Benny meet?" Maureen asked._

"_He works for my fathers company." Allison said quietly. Maureen spit out her drink._

"_Your Allison Grey?" She asked shocked. Kelly rolled her eyes and lightly smacked Maureen's arm._

"_Sorry about that." Kelly said smiling. "Anyway, so you met at the office. How did Benny ask you out?"_

"_He came up and asked me to dinner one day." Allison said smiling at the memory. "But our first date was kind of a disaster."_

"_How?" Kelly asked._

"_Well, he took me out to one of those really rich and snobby restaurants." Allison said. "I hated it. So the next time he took me to The Life Café."_

"_That's cute." Maureen said smiling._

"_So what are you going to school for?" Kelly asked._

"_I'm majoring in business." Allison said taking a sip of her drink._

"_That's cool." Maureen said. "You go to NYU, right?"_

"_Yes." Allison said._

"_That's where Kelly and Collins go." Maureen said downing a shot._

"_Slow down Mo. We got all night." Kelly said laughing._

"_So I think we should warn you about what comes with being involved with Benny." Maureen said._

"_What do you mean?" Allison asked confused._

"_Well first off he's kind of a package deal. We come with him." Maureen said laughing. "We grew up together. We're family."_

"_I think I can handle that." Allison said smiling._

"_Also you won't just get one set of in-laws. You get five all together." Kelly laughed. Allison gave her a funny look so she continued. "Well not only do you have the Coffin's but you also get the Keaton's, Davis', Johnson's and the Cohen's. Like we said we're all family."_

"_Ok." Allison said laughing._

"_Poor girl doesn't know what she's getting into!" Maureen exclaimed laughing._

"_Really it's just one really big family that always knows your business." Kelly said laughing._

"_Can I ask you guys a question?" Allison asked._

"_Sure." Kelly said._

"_Well I know this sounds stupid but Benny didn't date anyone from back in Scarsdale?" Allison asked. "I mean Maureen your with Mark and Kelly your with Roger I was just wondering if he had a... I don't know." She said looking down._

"_It's ok." Kelly said patting her shoulder. "Benny didn't date that much. Here and there but nothing serious."_

"_I sound like such an ass." Allison said shaking her head._

"_No you don't." Maureen said. "I'd ask the same question if I was in your situation."_

"_Come on we should probably get back to the table before our wonderful boyfriends drink all the stoli in the place." Kelly said. Allison laughed. "We're not kidding." Kelly said dryly._

"_Stick around, Ally." Maureen said throwing on arm around her. "You'll see." Allison laughed as they got back to the table._

"_Collins, who's this?" Kelly asked as she sat down on Roger's lap._

"_This is Steven." Collins said smiling. "Steven these are the girls. The one sitting on Roger's lap is Kelly. The one attached to Mark's hip is Maureen, and the pretty blonde over there is Allison."_

"_It's nice to meet you guys." Steven said. Allison sat there and watched how everyone interacted. You could tell how close they were. But they also accepted two new people into the group and treated them like they'd known them for years, even though they just met. As they were leaving the club Kelly and Maureen pulled Allison off to the side._

"_We're going shopping tomorrow. And we wanted to know if you wanted to come with us?" Kelly asked._

"_Like a girl's day out." Maureen said._

"_Sure. I'd love to." Allison said smiling as they caught up to the boys._

_END FLASHBACK_

Maureen, Kelly, and I became fast friends. They were my best friends and we were dating best friends so it made it that much more fun. But I became closest with Kelly. Not that I didn't love Mo, she's awesome. But Kelly and I had a common bond over our fathers. Both of our fathers were all business all the time and didn't seem to care about there kids.

_Flashback_

_Allison walked into the loft and saw Kelly wrapped up on the couch crying. _

"_What's wrong?" Allison asked sitting down next to her._

"_My fucking father." Kelly said wiping her eyes. "You probably don't want to hear it."_

"_Honey I'm an expert on asshole fathers." Allison said laughing._

"_It's just that, I called him to see if he wanted to see my pictures that are on display at this local gallery but he said he had a business trip." Kelly said tearing up. "He's always been like that, I don't know why I'm so surprised about it."_

"_You don't need him." Allison said. "My dad is the same way. You get to the point where you realize that it's just not worth even getting upset over anymore."_

"_I know. It's just sometimes it creeps up on me." Kelly said._

"_I know. When I was in high school and there was some event for parents and they wouldn't show up, I'd cry in my room for two days." Allison said shaking her head. _

"_That's how my dad was." Kelly said. "But my stepmom always came to everything. I don't know what I would have done if she wasn't in my life."_

"_That's good that you have someone like that." Allison said smiling. "Hey why don't we go shopping?"_

"_I really don't have the money." Kelly said._

"_So we'll let daddy pay for it." Allison said smiling._

"_I don't know." Kelly said._

"_Well I'm not taking no for an answer." Allison said standing up. "Retail therapy is the best form of therapy."_

"_Ok." Kelly said standing up. Allison linked arms with her and they headed out the door._

_END FLASHBACK_

Everything was so great for awhile. But I guess nothing lasts forever and neither did our happiness. It started with Steven. That hit everyone hard. But when we found out about Kelly being pregnant I think that helped to heal us a little bit. We all come together and we were going to have a baby. Yes, we were going to have a baby. We knew that we would treat that child like it was our own. And we did. When Ellie was born we had these stupid little fights over who would get to watch her. It was great. Those nine months were that happiest that we had together. But when she died, it destroyed us. I've never in my life experienced that kind of pain. For weeks I would lay in bed crying. I truly believed that it was all my fault. Benny tried his best to get me to see that it wasn't, that no one could have known what would happened but I didn't believe him. Finally he made me go talk to a therapist. I finally excepted the fact that it wasn't my fault. But things were slowly starting to fall apart. Roger's drug use had a ripple effect on everyone. He was killing us right along with him. Honestly I was expecting the call that he over dosed. I wasn't prepared for the call that I did get.

_Flashback_

_Allison was sitting on her couch reading a magazine when she heard the phone ringing, she got up and picked up the phone._

"_Hello?" She said into the phone._

"_Allison?" She heard Maureen. She was cyring._

"_Yeah." Allison said starting to get worried. "What's wrong?"_

"_You and Benny need to get over here right now." She said crying._

"_Benny's not here right now." Allison said. "What's wrong?"_

"_You just need to call Benny and get over here right away." She said still crying._

"_Ok. I'll call him and be over in like ten minutes." Allison said._

"_Ok." Maureen said before hanging up. Allison hung up the phone and called Benny at the office, he wasn't there so she left a message to go to the loft as soon as possible. She rushed out of the apartment and made her way over to the loft. When she got there Maureen was sitting on the couch crying. _

"_Maureen what's wrong?" Allison asked rushing over to her. Maureen just shook her head. "Honey where are Mark and Roger?" Maureen pointed to the bathroom. Allison got up and walked over to the bathroom. She nearly passed out when she saw the blood._

"_Mark?" She asked taking a few steps back. Mark looked up from where he was cleaning the floor. "What happened?" Mark got up and took the rubber gloves off his hands. Allison noticed how pale he looked._

"_April killed herself." He whispered looking at the floor. Allison gasped._

"_Why?" She asked. Mark walked closer to her._

"_You need to sit down Ally." He said leading her to the couch._

"_What's going on Mark?" Allison asked as she sat down on the couch. Maureen had left the room and gone back into her and Mark's room._

"_April found out that she was positive." Mark said looking away from her. "When she found out she killed herself."_

"_Where's Roger?" Allison asked. She felt numb._

"_After the cops left he locked himself in his room." Mark said. "Where's Benny?"_

"_He was supposed to be in the office but he wasn't there so I left a message telling him to come over here as soon as possible." Allison said. "Is Roger…" She didn't want to finish that sentence._

"_He needs to go get tested." Mark said. "But the way they were living, it's highly likely."_

"_Should we try talking to him?" Allison asked._

"_I tried, he just locked himself in his room." Mark said._

"_I'm going to try talking to him." Allison said getting up._

"_You shouldn't do that." Mark said getting up. "He hasn't had anything so he's probably going through withdrawl."_

"_We can't let him just sit in there Mark." Allison said walking towards the room. "What if he tries to do the same thing?" Allison doesn't even wait for a response, she just started to walk towards Roger's bedroom. She gently knocked on Roger's bedroom door._

"_Roger it's Allison, can I come in?" She asked._

"_Go away." He said gruffly through the door. Allison took a deep breath before opening the door. When she walked in she saw Roger sitting in the corner of his bed with his knees pulled up to his chest. "I said to go away."_

"_I can't do that." Allison said looking at the floor._

"_Yes you can." Roger said angrily. "It's easy. Put one foot in front of the other and get the hell out of here."_

"_Roger, are you OK?" she asked quietly as she slowly made her way to the bed._

"_Didn't you hear, I'm not gonna be OK ever again." he told her quietly never looking up._

"_Honey, you don't know that. You need to get tested." she said carefully sitting in the opposite corner of the bed._

"_Ally, I've been using with April for a while. If she's positive, so am I." he told her starting to cry._

"_You have a lot of people who love you around here. We'll take care of you and get you the help you need." she told him trying not to cry herself._

"_Allison, no offense, but I just want to die right now. So if you'll excuse me." he said getting up before falling to his knees in pain from withdrawal._

"_Roger, I can get you into a good rehab and on the best HIV meds..." she started before being interrupted by Roger._

"_Allison, why don't you get the fuck out of here and go back to your rich bitch existence and forget about all of this shit. There's nothing here for any of us anymore. Steven's gone, Ellie's gone and I drove Kelly away. The family's dead. So why don't you just get the hell out of here and let me die already. Just fucking go already." he yelled angrily scaring Allison out of her seat on the bed._

"_But Roger..." she said starting to cry before being yelled at again._

"_Allison just get the hell out of here. You don't know shit. Just get out." he yelled again as she rushed out of the bedroom and the loft crying without saying a word to anyone. As she made her descent down the stairs she heard a familiar voice through the foor directly below the loft._

"_Oh Baby, you are so hot when you dance for me." the voice said followed by a female giggling. The voice was that of her husband. Benny was cheating on her._

_END OD FLASHBACK_

The day that I found out one of my good friends was dying, I also found out that my husband, whom I loved with all my heart and soul, was cheating on me. I wanted to lay down and die. I couldn't deal with it. We were all falling apart, every single one of us and it seemed that there was nothing that we could do to stop it. So I did what I called my own version of reclusive behavior. I spent all my time either shopping or helping to put together charity dinners. I stopped calling the loft, though I did hear from Collins a few times and he kept me up to date on Roger and everyone. For a few months I just wandered through my life. I knew that Benny was cheating on me but I couldn't bring myself to do anything about it. So I turned the other cheek. That was until I heard about the riot. That's when I lost it.

_Flashback_

_Allison stormed into the apartment, Benny was sitting on the couch._

"_What the hell do you think your doing?" Allison screamed._

"_What are you talking about?" He asked._

"_You locked them out of the loft?" Allison yelled._

"_They didn't pay their rent." Benny said looking at the floor._

"_Maybe because we told them the didn't have to!" She yelled. "They're going through enough right now."_

"_So your father and I are supposed to take a loss for my former friends not wanting to get real jobs?" He asked. _

"_You don't really think that." Allison said shocked. "Mark's been taking care of Roger. That's why he hasn't had steady work. And do you think that Roger is ready to work again?"_

"_Roger made his decisions, it's not my fault what happened." Benny snapped._

"_I can't believe you. They are our friends. At least they were until you spent more time with your investors and my father at our wedding." Allison said hatefully. "You barely said two words to Mark and he was your best man."_

"_Allison just calm down." Benny said standing up. "How can you defend them? They say just as much about you as they do me." Allison felt tears well up in her eyes._

"_Probably because they think I'm on your side in this." Allison said glaring at him. "So help me god Benny, if you don't go down there and unlock their doors and give them their stuff back, I'll file divorce papers as soon as the holidays are over."_

"_No you won't." Benny said. "On what grounds?"_

"_You're cheating on me." She said coldly. Benny looked like a deer caught in headlights._

"_Allison, baby…" He said moving towards her._

"_Don't touch me." She said pulling away from him. "They were our friends once. It's been a tough year, I can't believe that you are the same man I fell in love with." She said walking into the bedroom and locking the door behind her._

_END FLASHBACK_

Benny gave them their stuff back but not without starting some trouble between Roger and Mimi. I don't hate Mimi. I couldn't she was just a kid and she didn't know that Benny was married. Benny and I went into marriage counseling to try to fix our marriage. We made some really good progress. After Benny made amends with the group Mimi and I had a long talk. I realized that she was completely in love with Roger so I made the effort to be her friend. Though from time to time when I would see them together I couldn't help but think of Kelly and what she was doing right then, if she moved on too. Was she as happy as Roger was? But I would try to push those thoughts out of my head, because then I realized that the golden days really were over and that it would never be that way again. And I don't think that I'm ready to accept that fact just yet.

A/N: I deeply apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter up. I didn't have a lot of time this weekend so I couldn't write this. Plus it took me awhile to get this chapter right. I really hope you guys liked this chapter. It's one of my favorites. Thanks to all those who've reviewed. You guys are amazing. I just want to thank you so much for your support of this story. And a huge thank you to Renthead621. Thanks so much for helping me with this chapter, your amazing. This chapter never would have gotten done without you. I'm going to try to get the next chapter up tonight. But I can't promise anything. I'm going to try to update as much as possible before the holiday weekend. The next chapter will be from Benny's point of view. Remember to review.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	23. Benny

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent.

**Benny**

I realized that I was an ass. Ok? Looking back if I could change it I would, but I can't so I just have to move on from it. I'll never fully forgive myself for what I did to my friends and Allison. Especially Allison. I love her with all of my heart, and I'll never understand why she took me back. Everyone handles things differently. When Ellie died Kelly pulled away from Roger, Roger turned to drugs and April, Mark hid behind his camera, Collins left, Allison was always busy with something and Maureen went out to the bars every night. What did I do? I threw myself into my work. The more that I was around Mr. Grey the more I became his clone. I should have never listened to him when he came to me with a plan to make my CyberArts dream work.

_Flashback_

"_Benjamin, can I come in?" Mr. Grey asked standing at the door to his office._

"_Of course." Benny said standing up and motioning for him to sit down._

"_I wanted to talk to you about that CyberArts project you have." Mr. Grey said sitting down._

"_Really?" Benny said perking up._

"_I think we found the perfect space for it and the best part is we already own it." Mr. Grey said smiling._

"_Really? What property is it?" Benny asked._

"_That building on Ave A and that lot next door." Mr. Grey said as Benny felt sick._

"_I don't think that would work." Benny said._

"_Why not? Most of the people in that building aren't legally supposed to live there and the lot won't be a problem." Mr. Grey said._

"_But what about the people who live there?" Benny asked._

"_They kind find other places to live." Mr. Grey said standing up._

"_And if they can't?" Benny asked._

"_Not our problem, Benjamin." Mr. Grey said walking out of the office. Benny looked down at his desk and tried to fight off the sick feeling he had in the pit of his stomach._

_End of flashback_

Am I proud of what I did? Hell no. But I was young and I really wanted to make a good impression with Mr. Grey. I realize now that I did a lot of things because I didn't want to deal with what was happening. Ellie dying, Kelly leaving, Roger's slip into drugs and his diagnosis. It was too much. I mean two of my best friends had death sentences before the age of twenty five. I couldn't take it. So I threw myself into work. One of the worst decisions I ever made. I remember when I found out that Roger was positive.

_Flashback_

_Benny walked into the apartment he shared with Allison expecting her to have gone to sleep a long time ago, but she was sitting on the couch when he came in._

"_Allison, baby what are you doing up?" Benny asked._

"_You need to go talk to Mark right now." She said looking at the floor._

"_Baby, it's one in the morning. Can it wait until tomorrow?" Benny asked._

"_No." She choked out before crying._

"_What happened?" He asked moving toward her._

"_Just go and talk to them." Allison said getting up and walking into the bedroom. Benny stood there for a minute before turning around and walking back out the door. When he walked into the loft Mark was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands._

"_Mark what happened?" benny asked._

"_Where the hell were you?" Mark asked angrily._

"_Something came up but I'm here now. What happened?" Benny asked._

"_April's dead and Roger is probably dying." Mark said angrily. Benny recoiled like Mark had just punched him._

"_What? How?" Benny stuttered._

"_You know what kind of things they were into." Mark said. "She found out that she was positive and killed herself."_

"_So Roger is?" Benny couldn't find the words to say it._

"_It's a safe bet." Mark said. "It's not like they were being safe about anything."_

"_Is there anything I can do?" Benny asked._

"_Where were you?" Mark asked. "We both know that you weren't stuck at the office."_

"_Mark don't" Benny said._

"_She loves you." Mark said. "Don't hurt her like that."_

"_Mark you don't know what your talking about." Benny said._

"_You've changed Benny." Mark said looking down. "We both know that. I have to consentrate on helping Roger get through this. If you don't want to be here that's fine but don't come around here pretending things haven't changed."_

"_After all me and Allison have done?" Benny asked shocked._

"_Did I mention Allison at all?" Mark asked. "She's not the one abandoning us Benny, you are. It's been happening for awhile."_

"_Whatever Mark." Benny said as he walked out the door. And away from his childhood friends._

_END FLASHBACK_

I shouldn't have walked out. I know that now. I was pissed at him because he was right. I didn't want to admit at the time that I was a sellout that didn't care about his friends. I almost lost everything I cared about because of my stupid pride. I even flipped out when I found out that Allison paid for Roger's rehab.

_Flashback_

"_Allison what the hell is this?" Benny asked angrily when Allison walked into the apartment. _

"_Looks like a bank statement." Allison said rolling her eyes._

"_It is." Benny said. "Why the hell did you write a check for thirty thousand dollars to a rehab?"_

"_You know why." Allison said hatefully. "One of our friends was in need and I was able to help them."_

"_That's a lot of money Allison." Benny yelled. "They don't even like us."_

"_No Benny, they don't like you." Allison said. "I talk to Mark all the time. And don't talk about a lot of money. We can afford it."_

"_Maureen and Roger refer to you as Muffy." Benny said knowing that it would hurt her. Allison looked like he slapped her._

"_They're both hurting right now. Especially Roger." Allison said wiping away tears. "I refuse to let him die even sooner then he already will."_

"_But Allison." Benny started but Allison cut him off._

"_Don't Benny. I don't care whatever it is you have to say." She said walking into their bedroom and shutting the door._

_END FLASHBACK_

I couldn't believe how much she cared about all of them. I mean it should have been me paying for his rehab, since I've been best friends with him since I was five. Ally had barely known us for three years and she was already so fiercely protective of them. But I knew she was such an amazing person from the moment that I met her. I shouldn't have been shocked. I just wish I could go back in time and change everything. All the things I did to hurt her and them. But I can't, all I can do is make sure that I make up for it now and make sure they all know how much they mean to me and that I would never do that again.

A/N: I am so sorry that this took so long. I completely hit a wall with this chapter. And it took me awhile to get it right. I hope you liked this chapter. Next up is Collins. I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed so far. You guys rock. And I have to thank my partner in crime, Renthead621, for all her help. You rock. And everyone remember to review. I love hearing what you think.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	24. Collins

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think you all know that by now.

**Collins**

It's funny how one event can change the course of so many lives. Ellie's death had a ripple effect. It didn't just crush Roger and Kelly, it crushed us all. You know what the funny thing is? They always talk about how Roger ran to Santa Fe after Angel. But I did the same thing after Ellie died. I couldn't sit there and watch Roger throw away the love of his life for that poison. So when I got offered a teaching position at MIT, I jumped at it. Maybe if I had stayed Roger wouldn't have gotten so far gone. The day Mark called me to tell me about April was one of the worst days of my life.

_Flashback_

_Collins was sitting in his office when the phone rang._

"_Professor Collins speaking." He said rolling his eyes._

"_Collins?" He heard Mark choke out._

"_Mark what's wrong." Collins asked worried._

"_April killed herself." Mark said. Collins felt his head start spinning._

"_Why?" He managed to ask._

"_She found out she was positive." Mark said numbly._

"_What about Roger?" Collins asked knowing what the answer would be._

"_Odds aren't in his favor, Collins." Mark said. _

"_What do you need me to do?" Collins asked holding back tears. _

"_There's nothing that you can do really. Allison is going to pay for him to go into a rehab." Mark said. "I just thought you should know."_

"_I'll be back around Christmas." Collins said. "Or do you need me sooner?"_

"_No. I'll keep you updated." Mark said. "I'll talk to you soon."_

"_Ok. Call me if anything happens." Collins said wiping away the few tears that had escaped._

"_I will." Mark said. "Bye Collins."_

"_Bye Mark." Collins said hanging up the phone. He sat there for a moment not really sure what to do. Finally the tears that he was holding back started to fall. He picked up the small clock that was sitting on his desk and threw it against the wall. Before completely breaking down into sobs._

_END FLASHBACK_

I could deal with my fate. I was dying and I knew it. I had come to terms with it. But knowing that one of your best friends was going to share your fate was almost too much for me to handle. I think a part of me died a little when I found out. In the back of my mind I knew that Kelly and Roger would find their way back to each other. But now they wouldn't have the time that they should have. I remember trying to get a hold of her.

_Flashback_

_Collins picked up the phone and dialed Kelly's brother Nick's number._

"_Hello?" He heard a young man say._

"_Um is this Nick Emerson? Kelly Keaton's brother?" Collins asked._

"_Yeah who's this?" Nick asked._

"_Um Tom Collis. Remeber we met a few times." Collins said. "Listen I really need to get in touch with her."_

"_I can tell her that you called but I can't give you her number." Nick said._

"_I can understand that." Collins said. He knew that he wouldn't get her number. "Can you just tell her that it's really important and I need to talk to her?"_

"_Yeah. Does she have your number?" Nick asked._

"_No, I can give it to you." Collins said before giving Nick his number._

"_Ok. I'll give her your message. But I can't promise anything." Nick said. _

"_Ok. Thanks for doing this though." Collins said._

"_No problem." Nick said before hanging up. Collins had a feeling that Kelly wasn't going to call back._

_END FLASHBACK_

I can't really blame Kelly for not calling back. She wasn't ready to talk to us yet. She was hurt and scared and I don't blame her for that. And what about Mimi? If Kelly had come back into the picture sooner then Mimi wouldn't have had Roger to help her get off drugs. And we wouldn't have Rosie right now. Maybe Roger and Mimi had to go through all those things together. I wish Mimi and Kelly could have met each other. They would have been such great friends. I remember the night that Mimi found a picture of Roger, Kelly, and Ellie and asked me about it.

_Flashback_

"_Collins?" Mimi asked. He was sitting in the loft reading. Mark was out filming and Roger was at work, so Mimi and him were the only ones in the loft._

"_Yeah?" He asked putting down his book._

"_I was putting some stuff away in Roger's room and I found this." She said handing him a picture. He looked down and tears immediately sprung to his eyes. "Who are they?"_

"_Roger hasn't told you?" Collins asked. He had figured that Roger might have mentioned something to her._

"_No." Mimi said looking at the ground._

"_Come sit down Meems." He said patting the seat next to him. "Don't take it personally, it's really hard for him to talk about. Hell it's hard for all of us to talk about."_

"_If you don't want to talk about it, I understand." Mimi said._

"_No, you need to know." Collins said. He took a deep breath before starting. "That's Kelly." He said pointing to the picture taken when Ellie was six months old. "Roger and her started dating when they were 15. They've known each other since the day they were born."_

"_Wow." Mimi said not really knowing what else to say. _

"_And this is Ellie." Collins said fighting back the tears. "Roger and Kelly's daughter."_

"_Roger has a daughter?" Mimi asked shocked._

"_Had." Collins said sadly. "She died."_

"_Oh my god." Mimi said covering her mouth. "What happened?"_

"_She had meningitis. One night Allison and Benny were watching her and Allison noticed that her head was lulling to the side and when she picked her up she was burning up. They took her to the hospital and Roger and Kelly came. But her fever spiked and then she had a seizure. And she died." Collins said crying._

"_I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it anymore." Mimi said hugging him._

"_No it's ok." Collins said pulling back and wiping his eyes. "Um after Ellie, Roger and Kelly started having problems. He started staying out all night and then he met April."_

"_He cheated on her?" Mimi whispered. _

"_He was hurting so bad Mimi. That's how he got into the drugs." Collins said. "Kelly took a job offer in LA, she was supposed to be back in three months. But she came home for a surprise visit and found Roger and April in bed together."_

"_Oh no." Mimi said. "She must have been devastated."_

"_She was. She got back on a plane that night and hasn't been back since. We heard from once but nothing since then."_

"_They really loved each other didn't they?" Mimi asked looking at the picture of them smiling._

"_Yeah." Collins said looking at the picture. "But you know that he loves you."_

"_I know." Mimi said looking up at him. "But I always knew there was someone else. Like sometimes I'd say something and he would just close up. I thought it was April, but I guess it was Kelly."_

"_What would you say?" Collins asked._

"_Like if I ever played a Springsteen song he would get really weird." Mimi said. "I know that sounds insane."_

"_No it actually doesn't." Collins said. "Kelly was the world's biggest Springsteen fan." He said laughing a bit._

"_Sounds like we'd be friends." Mimi said smiling sadly._

"_Yeah you would have." Collins said. "Listen Meems, I'm glad you know about Kelly now but don't say anything to Roger about Kelly. It could end really badly."_

"_I know." Mimi said standing up. "I'm going to go put this back and lay down for a little bit."_

"_You feeling ok?" Collins asked concerened._

"_I feel fine." She said smiling before walking into the bedroom._

_END FLASHBACK_

That was about three weeks before Mimi decided to leave. Roger was devastated. I've only seen him like that two other times. When Ellie died and when he came home from rehab and realized that Kelly wasn't coming back. When she first left he was too far into the drugs to let it really sink in. And when he was in withdrawls he didn't have time to think about. He called me one day after he came home.

_Flashback_

"_Hello?" Collins asked picking up the phone._

"_Hi Collins." He heard Roger's voice._

"_Roger! How are you doing man? Are you at home?" He hadn't heard from Roger in months. It was nice to hear is voice._

"_I guess I'm doing ok. And yeah I just got out yesterday." Roger said._

"_I'm really glad your home." Collins said._

"_Me too." Roger said sadly. He paused before speaking again. "I miss her so much Collins."_

"_I know you do." Collins said. "You just have to give her a little time."_

"_But I don't have time." Roger said tearing up. _

"_You can't think like that. You don't know how much time you'll have if you keep healthy and take your meds." Collins said sternly. He couldn't let Roger think like that._

"_I need to get in touch with her Collins. I need her to know how sorry I am." Roger cried._

"_She just needs time to process things." Collins said choosing his words. "Don't worry, you'll be able to tell her."_

"_Yeah on my death bed." Roger said angrily._

"_Don't talk like that Roger!" Collins yelled. "Stop acting like your going to die tomorrow." There was a long pause._

"_Sorry." Roger muttered. "I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you soon." He didn't even wait for a response from Collins, he just hung up._

_END FLASHBACK_

The void in his voice was evident. It was so hard to hear him like that. So broken and depressed. He turned into someone who hated the world. But when Mimi came she pulled him out of that shell. He was truly happy with her. Roger is a lucky man, he's had two great loves in his lifetime. Not many people get one. I can't even begin to say how happy I am that Kelly is back. We needed to have the family back. I wish Angel and Mimi were still here. But I know they are smiling down on us and protecting us.

A/N: I can't believe how fast I got this chapter done. I guess I'm finally getting over my writers block. Nick's chapter is next. For those of you that don't remember he's Kelly's brother. Well I'm going to make this short so I can get to work on that chapter. Thanks to everyone who has read a reviewed so far. You guys rock.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	25. Nick

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think that's obvious to everyone.

**Nick**

I love my sister with all my heart. I would kill for her, I would put my life on the line to save hers. I watched as Ellie's death shattered her whole world. Also watched what Roger did to her. I wanted to hurt him as bad as he hurt her the night that I went to the loft. But when I saw how pathetic he looked and decided that nothing I could do would be worse than what he was doing to himself. I was fully prepared to hate Roger until my last breath. But I ran into him about two years after Kelly had left.

_Flashback_

_Nick walked was walking into a bar when he crashed into someone._

"_Fuck." Nick said getting up. "Sorry about that." He said reaching down to help the other person up. He froze when he saw it was Roger._

"_Hi Nick." Roger said standing up. "It's been a long time."_

"_Not long enough." Nick said turning around to walk out._

"_Nick wait." Roger called out. Nick stopped but didn't turn around. "Listen I made a lot of mistakes that I'm sorry for. And I'm paying for them now."_

"_What do you mean?" Nick asked turning around._

"_Can we maybe sit and talk? Have a beer maybe?" Roger asked._

"_Fine." Nick said as they walked to the back booth. "So?"_

"_Um I know that you know about the drugs." Roger said looking at the table. _

"_Yeah." Nick said. He wasn't going to make this easy on him._

"_I'm positive." Roger said bluntly. _

"_You mean?" Nick asked. Now it was his turn to look down._

"_Yeah HIV." Roger said. "Like I said, I'm paying for my mistakes."_

"_I'm sorry Roger." Nick said. And he truly meant it. Up until Roger started with the drugs, Nick had truly liked the guy._

"_Thanks. But I'm still healthy and my T cells are pretty good." Roger said. "How is she?" He asked quietly._

"_Better. She went through a really bad time right after she left. Made some not so great decisions but she's doing great now." Nick said._

"_Good." Roger said. "I wish she knew how sorry I am."_

"_She still needs a little more time Roger." Nick said. "She has to be ready."_

"_I know." Roger said. "When you talk to her will you tell her that we all miss her?"_

"_Yeah." Nick said._

"_Thanks. And tell her that the loft still has the same number if she wants to call." Roger said hopefully._

"_Roger I can't promise anything." Nick said starting to feel bad for him._

"_I know. I just want her to know that." Roger said standing up. "I'll see you around." Roger said shaking his hand._

"_Ok." Nick said as he watched him walk away._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

I could see in his eyes how sorry he was. I remember when Kelly snuck back into town and we got in a fight about her going to see everyone.

_Flashback_

"_Kelly you have to see them one day." Nick yelled._

"_I'm not ready yet Nick." Kelly yelled right back. "I just need some time."_

"_Well you know that not all of them have that much time." Nick yelled. He realized what he said. He didn't want to be the one to tell her about Roger, Roger was the only one that could do that. "You know that Collins is sick."_

"_Have you heard anything?" Kelly asked as tears started to form._

"_No. I haven't. But he won't be around forever Kelly." Nick said._

"_I know." Kelly said sitting down on his couch. "But I don't know if I can just yet." Nick came and sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders._

"_Kelly I think you are ready." Nick said. "Your just scared that they are going to be mad at you."_

"_They probably hate me Nicky." Kelly said crying._

"_No they don't." Nick said. "They all understand that you needed to get away. They just want to hear from you."_

"_I don't know Nicky." Kelly said._

"_Just call them." Nick said. _

"_I'll think about it." Kelly said wiping her eyes. "I'm going to go lay down for a little bit."_

"_Ok." Nick said kissing the top of her head before she got up and went into his room._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

She didn't call. She was still too scared. I couldn't blame her, she got her and now she was protecting herself. She's been through more than anyone can imagine. First her mom dying, her father was never around, and then she lost her child and the love of her life. It set her up to fall right in with that bastard. So help me god if I ever see him again I'll kill him. What Roger did was wrong on so many levels, but he would never even think to lay a finger on Kelly. Or any girl he was dating. Because he's a good guy deep down. That guy is so lucky that Jimmy was there when I first saw her or I'd be in jail for murder right now.

_Flashback_

_Nick walked into Kelly's hospital room and nearly got sick. Kelly was all bruised with all these wires coming out of her._

"_What's the son of a bitch's name." Nick asked angrily._

"_Nick calm down." Kelly said weakly. _

"_That bastard is going to pay." Nick said. The guy sitting next to her got up and walked over to him._

"_Listen, you have every right to be angry but that's not going to help her right now." The guy said._

"_Who the hell are you?" Nick asked._

"_I'm Jimmy. Kelly's boss." Jimmy said. "I found her."_

"_Listen thanks for helping her but I'm going to find that bastard whether you like it or not." Nick said._

"_Nicky please don't do this right now." Kelly said on the verge of tears. Nick walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. _

"_Kelly he needs to pay for what he did to you." Nick said trying to remain calm and taking her hand._

"_He's going to jail Nick. Jimmy already made me press charges." Kelly said._

"_I know." Nick said wipping the hair out of his face. "I just can't stand the fact that your in here because of some bastard like that."_

"_Yeah well I guess I don't have the best of luck when it comes to men." Kelly said._

"_Kelly you can't compare Roger to this guy." Nick said. "It's not the same thing." Nick couldn't believe that he was defending Roger._

"_Are you defending Roger?" Kelly asked getting angry._

"_You can't compare what he did to what this guy did." Nick said. "Roger would never lay a hand on you and you know that. I'm not saying that what he did is excusable but Kelly it's two different things."_

"_He cheated on me. He picked drugs and that whore over me." Kelly said crying._

"_Kelly I'm not saying what he did was right." Nick said getting up. "I'm just saying that he wouldn't have ever done this to you." He said pointing at her._

"_I don't want to talk about this." She said rolling over on her side. Nick sat down on the edge of her bed._

"_I'm sorry Kelly." Nick said. "But you don't know how much it kills me to see you in here knowing that it's all because of that guy." _

"_I know." Kelly said softly._

"_Why don't you try to get some rest. I'm going to go call mom and see when she can come out here." Nick said bending down and kissing her cheek. "Kelly you are the best. I hope you know that. You deserve so much, I hope you always remember that." Kelly didn't say anything. And Nick went to find a payphone to call his mother._

_END FLASHBACK_

We didn't know about Kelly's habit. She was released from the hospital a few weeks later and after me and mom settled her in at home we went to pack up my mom's hotel room. Thank god Jimmy happened to go over there or she'd be dead right now. Jimmy was able to get her into a really good rehab and she's been clean ever since. I felt like such an idiot for not knowing that she was into that shit.

_Flashback_

"_Hey Kel, you look good." Nick said as he entered the visitors room of the rehab._

"_Hi Nicky. I am so happy to see you." Kelly said hugging him tightly._

"_You look good sis. I'm glad you're doing so well." he said as they sat down in their chairs._

"_Yeah, I've had a lot of time to think about things in here." she said looking down at her feet as Nick leaned in to her._

"_What sort of things? Roger things?" he asked as she looked up at him._

"_Yeah Nick, Roger things. I've been thinking about what happened in New York." she said quietly holding back tears._

"_Kel, no one blames you for leaving. You guys were having a really hard time and you just needed to get away." he said reaching out for her hand._

"_It's not that Nick. I punished Roger for a long time for turning to the drugs and April, but I ran out on him long before I actually did. I mean, he's the love of my life Nick and I turned my back on him after we lost our..." she started as tears fell from her eyes._

"_Kelly, you had just lost your daughter, there's no rule on how to handle something like that. You guys always loved each other, but you just got lost." he whispered as he moved to her side to hold her._

"_But I punished him for turning to drugs and I go and do the same thing. I am such a hypocrite." she cried into his shoulder as he held her tight._

"_Kel, everything's gonna be OK. He still loves you, you know."he said as she looked up at him._

"_I know. I just can't face him. Not yet." she said as he wiped her tears from her face._

"_That's OK. He'll be there when you're ready." he whispered before kissing her head_

_END FLASHBACK_

I love my sister, but seeing her like that made me want to defy her wishes and call Roger to come to her. She needed him more than she realized, and little did she know he couldn't wait for her to be ready. He could be gone and then her chance would be lost. But there was nothing I could do. All I could do was hope she came to her senses and returned to him before it was too late. But she had to do it in her own time and in her own way.

A/N: Ok there's Nick's chapter. I hope it gave you a little more insight to what happened in LA. And I have to say thanks to the wonderful Renthead621 for helping me with this chapter. She actually wrote that last part so she deserves some of the credit too. Thanks to all who have reviewed so far. You guys rock. I love hearing what you think so remember to review. Mark is up next, I don't know when that will be up though. I'm hoping for sometime this weekend.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	26. Mark

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. I think we all know that by now. You know what's mine.

**Mark**

I've witnessed great love. The kind that you see in the movies, only it was so much stronger. Angel and Collins had that kind of love. And even though they only were together for that short amount of time, it ran so deep and was so pure that for Collins there was no one else after Angel. I was so lucky to have been able to witness that. Roger and Kelly fall into that category too. Their love ran so deep and so strong. But even that kind of love can't survive all things. Ellie's death was devastating. Actually I don't think that devastating begins to cover what happened in the months that followed her death. I remember how happy they were on the first day that we moved into the loft.

_Flashback_

"_Isn't it great?" Roger asked smiling as they all walked into the loft._

"_It's great baby." Kelly said smiling wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him._

"_Can you believe that we aren't in Scarsdale anymore?" Maureen asked looking around. _

"_Isn't it great?" Kelly asked smiling._

"_Yeah it is." Maureen said. "So there are four bedrooms, what are we going to do with the extra one?"_

"_Maybe we should find another roommate." Kelly suggested. "It'll be easier rent wise if we have another person."_

"_Do you really want to have a stranger move in?" Benny asked setting his bags down._

"_We'd get to know them first. Not everyone is a serial killer or something." Kelly said laughing._

"_Well let's just see if we can get by on our own before we start looking for someone else." Roger said coming up behind Kelly and putting his arms around her waist._

"_Ok." She said leaning back into him._

"_So Mark, what do you think?" Roger asked._

"_I think this is going to be the best summer ever." Mark said smiling. Mark watched as Benny took his stuff in his room and Roger and Kelly went into to theirs. Maureen came up behind Mark and wrapped her arms around him._

"_Penny for your thoughts?" She asked smiling as she rested her chin on his shoulder._

"_I just can't believe that we're actually here and this is all real." Mark said smiling._

"_I know." Maureen said smiling. "Isn't it great?"_

"_Yeah it is." Mark said as Roger chased Kelly out into the living room. Kelly ran behind Mark._

"_Leave me alone Roger!" Kelly giggled._

"_Take it back." Roger said running around Mark and grabbing her._

"_What the hell is going on?" Mark asked._

"_She made fun of my hair." Roger said picking her up and spinning her around. "Are you gonna take it back?"_

"_Yes." She giggled. Mark smiled and filmed them._

_END FLSHBACK_

Those first few years in the loft were the best years of my life. We didn't have a care in the world. We were young and pursuing our dreams. But things happen and things change. I've never really talked about what happened. Not Steven or Ellie or Kelly leaving. None of it. Talking about it made it seem so much more real and I couldn't handle that. The only time that I can think that I really talked about it was when I ran into Cindy when she was in the city. I ran into her at the Life Café, it was right after Roger had gone into his rehab program.

_Flashback_

"_Mark?" Mark looked up at the familiar voice and saw his sister Cindy standing there._

"_Hey Cindy. What are you doing here?" He asked as he got up to hug her._

"_I was in the city to do some shopping." Cindy said smiling as they sat down to the table. "I'm really glad that I ran into you. We haven't talked in awhile."_

"_I know I'm sorry about that. Things have been really tough lately." Mark said looking down._

"_I know." Cindy said reaching out and placing her hand on top of his. "How is he?"_

"_He just left for rehab two days ago." Mark said still looking at the table._

"_Sweetie, he'll pull through this. You all will." She said reassuringly. "This was a difficult time for all of you."_

"_It's just so hard seeing him like that." Mark said. "He was so broken before he left. Like there wasn't anything in the world that he had left to live for."_

"_Has he talked to Kelly lately?" Cindy asked._

"_No. We haven't heard a word from her since her plane touched down." Mark said sadly. "I just want one phone call to know that she's doing ok."_

"_I know. But you have to give her time to get over all that's happened. First Ellie died and then the break up with Roger must have hit her pretty hard. I couldn't imagine having to deal with one of those situations let alone both within months of each other." Cindy said._

"_It's hard to think about how just a year ago we were all so happy." Mark said looking up for the first time._

"_I know. But you have to deal with what life gives you." Cindy said. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."_

"_But what if it does kill you?" Mark asked._

"_Mark please don't talk like that." Cindy said. "You will all get through this."_

"_Cindy, Roger's dying." Mark said with tears in his eyes. "This is my fault."_

"_Mark, how the hell is this your fault?" Cindy asked shocked._

"_I should have known that something was wrong with her." Mark said shaking his head._

"_Mark I want you to listen to me really good right now, what happened with Ellie is no one's fault." Cindy said. "Not yours or Maureen's or Roger's or Kelly's. It was something tragic that happened that nobody could have prevented."_

"_But" Mark started before she cut him off._

"_No buts. You are not responsible for her death just like your not responsible for Kelly leaving and Roger turning to drugs." Cindy said._

"_I didn't say that I was." Mark said._

"_I know you too well little brother. I know how you blame yourself for things that are beyond your control." Cindy said. "But know that things are getting better. I mean Roger is on the meds and he's in rehab. He could still lead a long life."_

"_But what about Kelly? He loves her so much and I know that she loves him." Mark said._

"_That's something that only they can fix and they can only fix it when they are both ready to do that Mark. So I suggest that you concentrate on keeping Roger healthy and clean so when the day comes that they are ready, he'll still be here." Cindy said._

"_When did you become this wise?" Mark asked with a sad smile. _

"_I've always been this wise it's just that you never chose to listen to my advice." She said smiling._

"_Thanks Cindy." Mark said standing up and hugging her. _

"_Anytime little brother." Cindy said hugging him back. "Just remember if you ever need to talk I'm always just a phone call away."_

"_I know." Mark said. "I should be going now. I have to meet Maureen in a little bit._

"_Ok. I should get going too. I'll talk to you soon." Cindy said as the exited the café._

_END FLASHBACK_

Cindy's talk helped a lot. I think because she was someone with a fresh perspective. She wasn't still grieving over Ellie or spending half her day wondering if this would be the day that Kelly would call. But as the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years I knew that she wasn't going to call. I was angry at her for a long time for that. I didn't understand how it was that easy for her to cut us out of her life like that. We were supposed to be a family, you don't turn your back on your family.

_Flashback_

_Maureen walked into the loft and saw Mark boxing up a bunch of things._

"_Hey Mark." Maureen smiled. "Where is everyone?"_

"_Well Roger and Mimi are celebrating their two year anniversary early and Collins is still at his office." Mark said putting pictures in the box._

"_What are you doing?" Maureen asked coming over and looking in the box._

"_Just getting rid of things I should have a long time ago." Mark said. Maureen reached in the box and pulled out the pictures. There were pictures of Kelly when they were younger._

"_Mark you can't blame her for leaving." Maureen sighed._

"_How can you even consider her to still be our friend?" Mark asked. "She abandoned us."_

"_Mark sit down." Maureen said sitting down on the couch. Mark sat down next to her. "I'm not saying that I wasn't angry at first. But you have to realize that she was going through a lot and she didn't know how to handle that so she ran. We don't know how she was feeling, we've never had to go through that."_

"_But she didn't have to cut all of us off like that." Mark said getting angry. "If she really loved Roger then she should have stayed."_

"_Mark, he was cheating on her." Maureen yelled standing up. "What was she supposed to do? And after Ellie no less."_

"_She could have stayed and at least tried to work things out!" Mark yelled. _

"_Do you know what it's like to loose your child and then less than a month later find out the love of your life is cheating on you?" Maureen asked. Mark stayed silent. "The truth is none of us do. We can't be mad at her for her reaction. She did what she thought was best for her at the time."_

"_I still don't see how leaving all of us was better for her." Mark sighed._

"_Well you don't have to understand it you just have to accept it." Maureen said. "And don't get rid of all those things. You don't know that we'll never see her again."_

"_Maureen it's been almost three years without so much as a phone call." Mark said. "The only reason that we know she's still alive is that our parents still talk to each other."_

"_Some things just take a little bit more time to heal then others." Maureen said getting up. "And regardless if she ever comes back she was still part of our lives for a long time. And she'll always be in our hearts." Mark looked at the box, sighing he picked it back up and put it in his room._

"_I guess your right." He said coming back out of his room and sitting down next to her. "It just hurts, you know?"_

"_Yeah, I know." Maureen said quietly._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

Even after my talk with Maureen I was still angry. I think on some levels I blamed the failure of mine and Maureen's relationship on her leaving. Don't get me wrong, I love Caitlin, but from time to time I still wonder what would have happened had things worked out differently. But the reality of the situation is that Ellie did die and Kelly did leave and what happened afterwards did happen, and I can't spend the rest of my life thinking about the what ifs. I didn't forgive Kelly really until Mimi left. Roger and I were sitting in the loft going through some boxes about a month after Mimi left and we found some pictures and go to talking about all the good times we had. And that brought the conversation to Kelly.

_Flashback_

"_Hey Mark, look at this picture." Roger said laughing sitting on the couch. Mark leaned over and looked at the picture in Roger's hand._

"_Oh god, how long ago was that?" Mark asked shaking his head._

"_I think it's from freshman year." Roger said._

"_I can't believe how long ago that was." Mark said._

"_Your telling me." Roger said. "Do you remember how scared we were? We thought all the seniors were going to haze us?"_

"_Yeah but Billy said if they laid a hand on us he'd make sure they didn't walk for weeks." Mark said laughing._

"_Billy said he was the only one that could lay a hand on us." Roger said laughing. "And Barb told all the girls that if they touched Kelly, Maureen, or Becca she'd end them."_

"_See Billy is good for something." Mark said laughing and reaching for another picture._

"_Oh my god is that the freshman dance?" Roger asked._

"_Yeah. God did we all have bad eighties hair." Mark said laughing._

"_Speak for yourself I had great hair." Roger said laughing. "God she's beautiful."_

"_Yeah." Mark said getting up and picking up the box._

"_You can't stay mad at her forever." Roger sighed._

"_I'm not mad." Mark said walking into his room._

"_You're a bad liar." Roger said getting up and following him._

"_Roger can we just drop this?" Mark said setting down the box next to his bed._

"_No Mark." Roger said. "She really didn't do anything wrong."_

"_How can you say that?" Mark asked looking at him. "Do you realize how long it's been since she called?"_

"_Down to the minute." Roger said looking at the floor. "But she had her reasons for staying away."_

"_I just don't understand how it was so easy for her to just make it seem like she never knew us." Mark said sitting down on the bed._

"_I know. But all we can do is hope that she's happy and that one day she'll be ready to come back." Roger said sitting down next to him._

"_Do you ever think about what things would be like know if things had gone differently?" Mark asked._

"_I try not to." Roger sighed. "It hurts too much. And if things had been different we wouldn't have known Angel or Mimi or Joanne. It's just easier to not think about it."_

"_Your right." Mark said. "But that doesn't make it easier."_

"_I know." Roger said. "But you don't know what will happen in the futre so don't let the past prevent you from seeing it."_

"_That's really deep Roger." Mark said looking at him. "You steal that line from Collins?"_

"_No." Roger said smirking. "Angel told me that one time."_

"_She was a very smart woman." Mark said smiling. _

"_That she was." Roger said smiling._

_END FLASHBACK_

Roger was right, you can't let the past prevent you from seeing the future. All I could do was accept what happened and try to think about all the good things that were to come. And there were a lot of good things that did happen. We met Mimi, Angel, and Joanne. They were amazing additions to our group. And I met Caitlin. The love of my life. I realized that a lot of bad things happen in the course of someones life, so you have to hang on to all the good moments that happened. It's the only way that you can get through the bad times.

A/N: I am so sorry that this took so long. But my life has been a little crazy lately between work, school, and my writers block. Again I am sorry about how long it took to get this chapter done. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys are great. And another thanks to Renthead621, my Rent partner in crime. The next chapter is Maureen, which is a chapter I have been looking forward to. I don't know when exactly I'll be done with it. I'm going to try to get it done by the end of the week, but I'm not making any promises. Remember to review, I love hearing your thoughts.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	27. Maureen

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and what belongs to me.

**Maureen**

I've been lucky enough to have the same best friend for my entire life. From the time I was five, Kelly was my best friend. She wasn't just my best friend, she was my sister. I told her everything and she told me everything. I remember when she first told me about kissing Roger. She came up to me and pulled me off to the side at Barb's party.

_Flashback_

_Maureen was standing by the back door when someone came up and dragged her outside._

"_What the hell?" Maureen asked as Kelly dragged her to the back of the yard where no one was._

"_I have to tell you something." Kelly said when they finally stopped._

"_What?" Maureen asked. _

"_Roger kissed me." Kelly said trying not to smile, she was failing miserably._

"_I knew it!" Maureen yelled._

"_Maureen, keep your voice down!" Kelly said._

"_Sorry." Maureen said smiling. "So what does this mean?"_

"_We're going out on a date tomorrow." Kelly said smiling._

"_This is amazing." Maureen said hugging her. "I just want you to know that I've always known you two would be great together."_

"_I know." Kelly said smiling._

"_So when did this happen?" Maureen asked._

"_When we were up in the bathroom." Kelly said. "I was putting stuff on his eye and he just kissed me."_

"_That's so cute." Maureen giggled. "You two were made for each other."_

"_Mo, we haven't even gone on our first date and your acting like we're soul mates." Kelly said._

"_I think you are." Maureen said. "Think about it. He's the one that you always turn to when you need something. You've always been so close, it was inevitable."_

"_I'm really nervous though." Kelly admitted. _

"_Why?" Maureen asked._

"_I don't know. I guess I've had a crush on him for a while. It's weird knowing that he feels the same way." Kelly said._

"_Well of course he feels the same way." Maureen said. _

"_I still can't believe this is happening." Kelly said._

"_Well it is." Maureen said. "Now how about we go back inside and go find our guys."_

"_Ok." Kelly said laughing. "Now all we have to do is find Benny a girl."_

"_Well that's going to be easier said then done." Maureen laughed as they headed back into Barb's house._

_END FLASHBACK_

My mom always told me how lucky I was to have the friends that I had. She said that we were lucky we weren't fair whether friends. She told me that I would have these friends for the rest of my life. She said that doesn't happen too often, to have such good friends from the time that you were five.

_Flashback_

_Maureen walked into her parent's house and set her bags down in the living room before going into the kitchen to look for her mother._

"_Mom?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen._

"_Maureen? What are you doing here?" Mrs. Johnson asked as she came and gave her daughter a hug._

"_I just needed to get out of the city for awhile." Maureen said trying to hold back he tears._

"_Sweetie what's wrong?" Her mother asked leading her to the table and sitting down._

"_Everything's falling apart." Maureen said as she began to cry._

"_What do you mean everything's falling apart?" Mrs. Johnson asked. Though she had a slight idea of what she meant. _

"_Everyone's leaving." Maureen cried. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."_

"_Sometimes people need a change of scenery and then they come back." Mrs. Johnson said trying to calm her down. "Is this about Kelly?"_

"_I don't understand how she could just cut us off like that." Maureen said wiping her eyes. "Doesn't she know that she'll always have us?"_

"_She knows that." Mrs. Johnson said. "She just needs to be somewhere where it doesn't remind her of everything she's lost for awhile."_

"_It's not just that though. Benny never comes by anymore, Collins is up at MIT and Roger's" Maureen stopped and started crying again._

"_He's not doing to well is he?" Mrs. Johnson asked._

"_No." Maureen said trying to calm herself._

"_He'll get through this." Mrs. Johnson said encouragingly. "You all will. I promise."_

_END FLASHBACK_

My mom was right. We did make it, but we were all changed. We'll never go back to that time when we were all young and carefree. But I guess that's what life is for everyone. You can't stay young and carefree forever, life is always waiting around the corner with something to test you. But we made it through all the bad times and we met some great people along the way. Angel, Mimi, Joanne. I wouldn't trade knowing them for anything. But sometimes I can't help but wonder what would have happened.

_Flashback_

_Maureen sat on her couch looking through an old photo album when she heard a knock at the door. When she opened up the door, Roger was standing there._

"_Hey, what are you doing here?" Maureen asked. _

"_Got bored sitting around the loft, thought maybe you could use some company since Joanne's out of town." Roger said shrugging._

"_Come on in." Maureen said going back into the apartment. "You want anything to drink?"_

"_Whatever you got is fine." Roger said sitting down on the couch and picking up the photo album._

"_Pop ok?" Maureen asked coming back with two cans of pop._

"_Yeah that's fine." Roger said not looking up from the photo album. He was looking at a picture from the day they graduated high school._

"_Doesn't that seem like so long ago?" Maureen asked._

"_Yeah it does." Roger said smiling. "But it still feels like yesterday, you know?"_

"_Yeah." Maureen said as they sat in silence and continued to look at pictures. "So why are you really here?"_

"_What do you mean?" Roger asked looking up from the pictures. "I told you."_

"_Roger I know what today is." Maureen said gently. Roger looked back down at the pictures._

"_I thought I'd stop by because it's easier talking to you about it." Roger said looking back up. "I mean Mark's still angry with Kelly and Collins is away, so…"_

"_It's ok." Maureen said. "I'm always here."_

"_She'd be four today." Roger said with tears starting to form in her eyes._

"_I know." Maureen said hugging him. "We all miss her."_

"_I can't stop thinking about Kelly." Roger said pulling away. _

"_Of course you're going to be thinking of her, she's Ellie's mother." Maureen said. _

"_Do you think that she'll ever come back?" Roger asked._

"_I hope she does." Maureen said. _

"_I can't believe how much has changed in four years." Roger said closing his eyes and resting his head on the back of the couch._

"_But that's life, everything always changing." Maureen said. Roger picked up a frame picture sitting on the coffee table. It was a picture of the group sitting at the Life celebrating Angel's birthday._

"_I guess change isn't always bad." He said looking over at Maureen._

"_You're right. We met some really great people these last four years." Maureen said smiling._

"_Yeah we did." Roger said smiling. "Thanks for everything Mo."_

"_No problem." She said smiling back. "That's what I'm here for."_

"_I really mean it." He said hugging her. "I'm not just talking about tonight, you've really been there for me these last few years and that really means a lot to me."_

"_Don't mention it." She said hugging him back. "I know you would do the same for me."_

"_Yes I would." He said smiling as they pulled apart. _

_END FLASHBACK_

Roger is like the brother that I never had. I love him to death. He is a truly amazing person. That's why I was always so protective of him. It nearly killed me when I saw what he was doing to himself. He was so lost and there was nothing that I could do about it. I couldn't bring back Ellie and I couldn't make Kelly come back to us. All I could do is watch as he slowly killed himself and pray to God that he would realize what he was doing before it was too late. He did eventually realize that he needed help, unfortunately that came from a note that basically said he wasn't going to live into his forties. But I try not to think about that. All I want to focus on is the fact that he's here now and I'm surrounded by people that I love and no matter what I'll be there for him till the end.

A/N: I am so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I swear school was crushing me with work that I needed to get done to graduate and then I had to do a bunch of stuff at my work which left me no time to update. Plus I couldn't get this chapter right, I spent an hour and a half writing and then I'd end up deleting half of it. Thank you all for being so patient while waiting for this chapter, though someone did threaten to hunt me down and slap me with a wet noodle. I am about to start working on the next chapter, which is Roger. I am very excited for that chapter. I'm going to really try to get at least Roger's chapter up before I leave to go on vacation. Well I'm going to go get started on Roger's chapter and maybe if even the next chapter of Time Flies. Let's hope.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love

BohemianGirl06


	28. Roger

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. You know what belongs to Jonathon Larson and what belongs to me.

**Roger**

I can't blame April for everything that happened to me. Sure she was the one who supplied it to me but I was the one who decided to take it. She never forced me to do anything that I didn't want to do. I did it all willingly. I feel guilty sometimes, it was her death that forced me to get clean. It's like someone had to die so that I could live, granted I won't be living into my eighties but I would have died a lot sooner if I was still using. I can still remember the day she killed herself.

_Flashback_

_Roger opened his eyes and looked at the clock on the side of his bed. It read five thirty in the afternoon. He slowly dragged himself out of bed. April was nowhere in sight. 'good.' He thought to himself. 'She's probably out getting some more.' He slowly made his way out of his bedroom. He saw Maureen sitting on the couch watching TV._

"_Where's Mark?" Roger grumbled._

"_He's in the bedroom." Maureen said without even looking at him._

"_God what's your fucking problem?" Roger asked getting angry._

"_You and that whore you brought into our house." Maureen said angrily._

"_Listen you stupid bitch…" Roger started but Mark cut him off._

"_That's enough." Mark yelled coming out of the bedroom. _

"_She started it." Roger grumbled as he made his way towards that bathroom._

"_Way to act like a five year old." Maureen said rolling her eyes. Mark shot her a look that said that now was not the time. Roger said nothing as he walked into the bathroom. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the blood. He rushed over towards the bathtub._

"_April!" He yelled as he pulled her out of the pink tinted water. He vaguely heard Maureen scream and Mark tell her to call 911. Mark was at his side wrapping April's wrists with towels, knowing it was useless. They both knew it was far too late. For some reason Roger glanced up at the mirror and that's when he saw it. A yellow post it note, three words._

_We've Got AIDS._

_That's all she said. Almost immediately Roger pushed Mark back from the body._

"_What the hell." Mark said as he tumbled backwards._

"_Don't touch her." Roger said as he began to shake._

"_Roger I'm trying to help." Mark yelled as he tried to help again but Roger pushed him away again._

"_She's got AIDS!" Roger yelled. Mark immediately stopped in his tracks._

"_She's got what?!" Mark asked looking up at him._

"_AIDS Mark. You know Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome?" Roger asked looking down at him._

"_Oh my God Roger. What the hell did you do to yourself?" Maureen asked crying from across the room._

"_I guess I finally succeeded in killing myself." he yelled looking up at her._

"_Roger, you're not gonna die. You can treat this." Mark said as Roger looked down at him._

"_You know what Mark? I'm ready. I fucked up every good thing I've ever had in my life. I deserve to die." he said rushing off to his room._

"_Now what Mark?" Maureen yelled crying before running off to their room._

"_I don't know." he answered quietly as he stared down at April's lifeless body. "I don't know." he repeated running his fingers through his short blond hair._

END FLASHBACK

I don't remember much else from that night. I vaguely remember talking to the cops. I try not to think about that night too much. I said a lot of horrible things to my friends that night, especially Allison. I'll regret the things that I said and did that night for the rest of my life. You would think that after everything that happened that night I would want to get clean, but it was the exact opposite. All I wanted to do was die faster. Mark and Maureen tried their best to convince me to get help but I wouldn't hear about it. So they called the someone who would smack some sense into me.

_Flashback_

"_Where is he, Mark?" Billy asked as he stormed into the loft, Barb was right behind him._

"_Billy calm down." Barb said._

"_No. All this shit ends today." Billy said raising his voice._

"_He's in his bedroom." Mark said quietly. Mark had lost a bunch of weight and looked like he hadn't slept in days. "I'm sorry we didn't call sooner. I didn't know it would get like this."_

"_It's ok." Barb said hugging him. "We'll get him help."_

"_I'll be out in a little bit." Billy said walking towards Roger's door. He didn't even bother knocking, he just pushed the door open. He saw red when he saw Roger tying a belt around his arm._

"_What the fuck?" Roger yelled. Billy didn't say anything as stormed across the room and grabbed Roger._

"_What the hell are you doing?" He yelled._

"_What the hell are you doing here?" Roger yelled. _

"_Trying to make sure that I don't have to burry my brother." Billy yelled. "What the hell are you doing to yourself?" _

"_You don't have any idea what it's been like!" Roger yelled. "Don't pretend like you do."_

"_No Roger, I lost them too." Billy yelled with tears in his eyes. "Ellie was my neice. It killed me when we buried her. And Kelly was like my sister, you don't think I don't miss her?" Billy let go of Roger and started going through his drawers. He found the photo album he was looking for and pulled it out._

"_What are you doing?" Roger asked._

"_Look at this." Billy said tossing him the album. "I want you to look at those. Look at the people in those pictures."_

"_Billy, please don't." Roger said as tears formed in his eyes. Billy opened the photo album for him._

"_Those are the people your killing along with you." Billy said as he pointed to a picture when they were younger. It was of their parents and all the kids. Billy turned the page and there was a picture of everyone at the loft. "Them too."_

"_Billy." Roger said as he started to cry. Finally Billy turned the page and there was a picture of Kelly, Roger, and Ellie._

"_Roger, you owe it to them most of all to get your shit together." Billy said._

"_It hurts too much!" Roger yelled throwing the photo album across the room. _

"_This isn't just about you!" Billy yelled. "Don't you see how you're killing everyone with you?" Before Roger could respond Billy grabbed him again and dragged him out of the room. He dragged him over to the couch where Mark was sitting. "Look at him." Billy said pointing at Mark. "He isn't taking care of himself because all he does is worry about you! You're supposed to be his best friend and you're letting him suffer with you." _

"_I didn't ask anyone for anything!" Roger yelled. _

"_What was I supposed to do Roger, watch my best friend kill himself?" Mark asked yelling. Mark rarely yelled like that. "I was just supposed to continue on with my life and not notice what's been happening to you?"_

"_I…I'm sorry." Roger said collapsing on the couch and sobbing. _

"_Don't just be sorry." Billy said. "You have to promise that you'll do something about it."_

"_What?" Roger asked as the tears came down his cheeks. _

"_Go into rehab." Billy said. "It's already been arranged. We'll take you today."_

"_I can't afford it." Roger said still crying. _

"_Don't worry about that. It's already been taking care of." Barb said looking at Mark._

"_How?" Roger asked. Mark looked away. Allison had offered to pay for rehab but she said she didn't want Roger to know where it came from. She thought that Roger wouldn't go if he knew that she had paid for it._

"_Everyone pooled their money together." Mark hated lying but he had to respect Allison's wishes._

"_I can't let you guys do that." Roger said trying to regain his composer. _

"_Roger we want to do this." Barb said moving to sit on the table in front of him. "If it means that you get better then it's worth it."_

"_Thank you." Roger said looking up at all of them. "I'm really sorry."_

"_Just get better." Barb said hugging him. When she pulled away she had tears in her eyes. "We should get going, why don't you go get your bag together."_

"_Ok." Roger said nodding his head. He walked into his room and picked up his duffel bag and started putting clothes in it. He walked over to where he had thrown the photo album. He took out the pictures that Billy had shown him. He stopped and looked at the picture of him, Kelly, and Ellie. "I promise I'll make this up to both of you somehow." With that he put the pictures in his duffel bag and walked out into the living room._

_END FLASHBACK_

I've been clean ever since. I don't think I would have been able to make it this far with out the support of my family and friends. I don't think I'll ever fully forgive myself for all that I put them through. But I know that I can't change the past. That's one of the things that I learned in rehab. In rehab they had me talk to a therapist. I wasn't exactly happy with talking to a stranger about everything that happened. But sometimes it was easier to talk to someone who wasn't in the situation, who didn't live all that with me. She helped me to see things with an objective view.

_Flashback_

"_So why don't we talk about Kelly?" The doctor asked as Roger sat down in the chair._

"_I don't want to talk about her." Roger said as he sunk down in the chair. _

"_Roger we have to." She said. "She's a big part of your life."_

"_You mean she was. She's not here anymore." Roger said getting angry. _

"_So you don't love her?" The doctor asked._

"_I'll always love her." Roger said quietly. _

"_Roger, you need to resolve what happened with your relationship." The doctor said. "Talking about it is the first step."_

"_Where do you want to start?" Roger asked._

"_How about from the beginning?" The doctor said. "How long have you known each other?"_

"_Since the day we were born." Roger started out. "Our parents were really good friends and they happened to get pregnant at the same time. Me and my twin sister Becca were born on the same day as Kelly."_

"_That doesn't happen often." The doctor said smiling. "So you've always been close?"_

"_I don't have a single memory from my childhood without Kelly in it." Roger said. _

"_When did you realize that you liked Kelly as more than a friend?" The doctor asked._

"_We went to the freshman dance together that fall." Roger said smiling at the memory. "That's when I realized that I liked her."_

"_When did you start dating?" The doctor asked._

"_The following June." Roger said._

"_Why did it take you that long to ask her out?" The doctor asked._

"_I didn't know that she if she felt the same way. And I didn't want to ruin our friendship if she didn't feel the same way." Roger explained._

"_What made you finally decide to take a chance?" The doctor asked._

"_There was this guy who was putting the moves on her at this party we were at, he kept harassing her and stuff so I went over there and I ended up hitting the guy." Roger said._

"_So her knight in shinning armor came to her rescue." The doctor said smiling._

"_Not exactly." Roger said smirking. "The guy was about to kick my ass but my brother was there and threw the guy out."_

"_So what happened that made you decide to take a chance?" The doctor asked._

"_The guy had punched me and Kelly took me to the bathroom to help get me cleaned up." Roger said. "And then I looked at her and kissed her."_

"_And that was the start of your relationship." The doctor asked._

"_Yeah, we went on our first official date the next day." Roger said. _

"_So what was your relationship like during high school?" The doctor asked._

"_It was great." Roger said. "She was over my house all the time. Her mom had died when we were thirteen and her dad was always out of town."_

"_Your parents were ok with that?" The doctor asked._

"_Yeah." Roger said. "It had been that way even before we started dating. But when we started dating she had to sleep in my sisters room."_

"_Ok so what happened after high school?" The doctor asked._

"_We moved to the city. She went to NYU and I started working putting a band together." Roger said slowly, he knew where the conversation was heading. _

"_Would you say that things changed once you moved to the city?" The doctor asked._

"_I think we matured." Roger said. "But we were still really happy."_

"_When would you say the turning point happened?" The doctor asked. Roger paused and took a deep breath._

"_When our daughter died." Roger said as he felt the tears well up in his eyes._

"_What happened after she died?" The doctor asked._

"_Kelly started pulling away. She started working a lot." Roger began as a few tears started escaping his eyes. "And I started staying out at the bar a lot too."_

"_So whose fault would you say the breakup was?" The doctor asked._

"_I cheated and she caught me." Roger said as more tears fell. _

"_You said that she was pulling away from you, so it's was only natural for you to try to find solace elsewhere." The doctor said. _

"_There is no excuse what for what I did." Roger said angrily. _

"_I'm not saying that, Roger." The doctor said. "I'm just saying that you both made mistakes after your daughter died."_

"_Are you saying that it was Ellie's fault?" Roger yelled. _

"_Roger I didn't say that." The doctor said. "I'm just saying that you both avoided each other after her death."_

"_No what happened was my fault. I should have been the one to be strong and help Kelly threw it but no I fucking started drugs he yelled." Roger yelled. "I should have been the one to be strong for everyone but instead I acted like some stupid kid."_

"_But Roger, you were just a kid." The doctor said._

_END FLASHBACK_

She was right, I was just a kid when all that happened. Most adults wouldn't know what to do in that situation. But that still didn't give me the right to do what I did. But I'm trying to move on a put that in the past. Trying to be a better person for my friends and my family. I don't want them to look back when I'm gone and remember that part of my life, I want them to remember the good things I did, the things that I did right. I was so scared to face my family after I went into rehab. I didn't want to deal with all the questions that would have for me. Not only questions about the drugs but questions about the HIV.

_Flashback_

_Roger was sitting in the "living room" of the rehabilitation center when he looked up and saw his parents along with Billy, Becca, and Barb walk in. Becca was the first one to speak._

"_How are you doing?" Becca asked as she gave him a big hug._

"_I'm getting better." He said hugging her tight._

"_That's good." She said when he let her go. Roger turned to his parents, he didn't know what to say to them._

"_You look better." Mr. Davis said as he pulled Roger into a crushing hugs._

"_Thanks." Roger said with tears in his eyes. After he pulled away he hugged his mother, Billy, and Barb before sitting back down. Once everyone had sat down they settled into an awkward silence. Finally Barb spoke._

"_I got a job at the hospital." Barb said smiling. _

"_Good for you." Roger said smiling. He could tell they were all avoiding what they really came her to talk about. "You guys don't have to dance around anything, if you want to ask me something go ahead."_

"_How long were you using for?" Billy asked bluntly. Roger winced at the comment._

"_About a month after Ellie died up until the day I came here." Roger said looking down at his lap so they wouldn't see the tears in his eyes._

"_Why didn't you come to us?" Mrs. Davis asked. _

"_I didn't know what I was supposed to do." Roger started out. "I couldn't deal with the pain and then I started with the drugs and that made it go away. I didn't think that I would end up like this." Roger said as he started to cry. Mrs. Davis moved to the couch and sat next to Roger and wrapped her arms around him._

"_There's nothing we could do about what happened before." Mrs. Davis said quietly as she cried. "But promise me that from this day forward you will come to us."_

"_I promise." Roger said quietly. "I'm so sorry."_

"_We know that Roger." Mr. Davis said. "But I need to know that your completely done with the drugs."_

"_I swear on everything that I'm done. I'll never touch that stuff again." Roger said adamantly. "It's already cost me too much." They slipped into another period of silence before Barb spoke again._

"_How are you adjusting to the medications?" Barb asked. _

"_They said my T-Cells were good and they started me on AZT." Roger said quietly. "A lot of the things they said I didn't really understand."_

"_I could talk to your doctor." Barb said. "I probably could explain it to you."_

"_Ok." Roger said quietly. His family stayed for a little but longer before heading back home. Before Barb left he asked to speak with her alone._

"_What's going to happen?" Roger asked. Barb was a nurse so he knew she would know and give him the truth. Barb sat back down next to Roger._

"_The truth is we don't know that much about it yet." Barb started out. "We know that you get it from bodily fluids. They're starting to come out with more medications all the time." She looked at Roger with tears in her eyes. "I don't know how long you're going to live. But I know that if you keep yourself healthy and take the medications like you're supposed to, you have a shot at a fairly long life."_

"_What's going to happen when it turns into AIDS?" Roger asked with tears in his eyes. He saw the tears well up in Barb's eyes as she looked away._

"_You'll probably start out with a common cold." Barb started shakily. "Then it'll probably turn into pneumonia, you'll probably start getting lesions." Barb stopped talking and started to cry._

"_I promise I'll fight this with everything I got." Roger said hugging her tightly. "I'm not going down without a fight. I promise."_

"_I'm going to hold you to that promise." Barb said wiping way her tears._

"_I know." Roger said. "You should probably get going, Billy is waiting for you."_

"_When have I ever cared if Billy was waiting?" Barb said laughing._

"_I know." Roger said laughing too. "But I think I'm going to go lay down for a little bit."_

"_Ok." Barb said standing up. "I'll see you soon."_

"_Ok." Roger said hugging her goodbye._

_END FLASHBACK_

I thank god everyday for my family. Most people would have cut me off after how badly I fucked up but they stood by me through it all. They are part of the reason that I made it this far. My parents were so supportive after I got out of rehab, they offered to let me move back with them just until I felt up to going back to the loft. They knew the loft held a lot of memories, but so did Scarsdale. After I got out of rehab I slipped back into a depression. When I got back, I knew that Kelly wasn't there and that stung. But I knew I would have to deal with those feelings eventually. I didn't leave the loft after I came back. Mark tried his best to get me to be social, but I couldn't do that until I was ready. Mimi was the one that made me see that I needed to get out and live my life to the fullest. I'll always love Mimi. She was a truly special person, so full of life. And once she got clean it was like that life was magnified by ten. The world's a little bit darker with out her in it. But at least she died clean and knowing that she did change a lot of people's lives. It was because of Mimi that I found out that Allison paid for my rehab.

_Flashback_

_Mimi, Roger, and Mark were sitting in the loft watching one of Mark's films._

"_Is that Benny's wedding?" Roger asked._

"_Yeah." Mark said getting up to turn it off. "I didn't know that was on there."_

"_It looks like Muffy got the wedding she always dreamed of." Roger said rolling her eyes. _

"_Don't talk about Allison like that." Mark said. "She wasn't the one that caused all that drama, it was Benny and Mr. Grey."_

"_Whatever." Roger said getting up._

"_Isn't she the one that paid for your rehab?" Mimi asked looking up at Roger._

"_No." Roger said looking at Mark. "It was Mark and everyone." Mark looked away. "Wasn't it?"_

"_She thought you wouldn't accept the money from her." Mark said looking down. "So we told you that it was us."_

"_I can't believe you didn't tell me." Roger said storming into his room and slamming the door._

"_I'll go talk to him." Mimi said quietly getting up and going to the door. "Roger can I come in?"_

"_Yeah." Mimi heard him say as she opened the door._

"_Do you want to talk about it?" Mimi asked sitting on the bed next to him._

"_I feel like some charity case." Roger said. "I never asked for her charity."_

"_You're not a charity case." Mimi said. "She was your friend and she paid for your rehab because she was your friend."_

"_I feel horrible for calling her Muffy all these years." Roger said looking down. "I treated her really bad after April died."_

"_Then go make amends." Mimi said. "Maybe it's time to get past everything that's happened."_

"_I don't know if I'm ready to forgive Benny just yet." Roger said looking at her._

"_Then just talk to her." Mimi said. "Go talk to her when you know that Benny is at the office or something."_

"_Maybe." Roger said. "I need to think about it."_

"_Ok." Mimi said kissing his cheek._

_END FLASHBACK_

A week later I found myself outside Benny and Allison's apartment.

_Flashback_

_Roger took a deep breath before knocking on the door. _

"_Roger?" She asked shocked when she opened the door. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I needed to talk to you." Roger said. "Can I come in?"_

"_Of course." Allison said smiling and hugging him. "It's good to see you."_

"_It's good to see you too Ally." Roger said hugging her back. When she let him go she led him into the living room._

"_So what did you want to talk about?" She asked as they sat down on the couch._

"_I came to say I was sorry about all the things that I said." Roger began. "I was hurting really bad and I took it out on everyone that was around me."_

"_It's ok." Allison said quietly. "I think we all made a lot of mistakes back then."_

"_No it's not ok Allison." Roger said. "Especially considering you're the one that paid for my rehab."_

"_How did you find out?" Allison said looking away._

"_Mimi." Roger said a little hesitantly._

"_Benny probably told her." Allison said quietly._

"_I should probably go, I didn't mean to come here and bring up bad memories for you." Roger said standing up._

"_No, Roger don't go." Allison said. "Benny and I have gotten past that. It's just sometimes it still stings."_

"_I know." Roger said sitting back down. "Thank you for what you did."_

"_It was nothing." Allison said smiling. "I would do it again in a heartbeat."_

"_But you didn't have to." Roger started to say but Allison cut him off._

"_I did have to." Allison said. "I wasn't going to let one of my friends suffer when I had the power to help them."_

"_I really don't deserve a friend like you." Roger said hugging her._

"_Don't sell yourself short." Allison said smiling. "You've been a good friend to me too."_

"_Yeah but I fucked up there for awhile." Roger said._

"_We all make mistakes." Allison said. "At least you rectified your mistakes."_

"_Most of them." Roger said looking down. _

"_You still have time." Allison said. "You'll get the chance one day." They had been sitting there for an hour talking about the old days and telling each other what had been happening, when Benny walked in._

"_Roger, what are you doing here?" Benny asked shocked._

"_I was just telling Ally thank you." Roger said standing up. "It was long over due."_

"_You look good." Benny said not really knowing what else to say. _

"_Thanks." Roger said. "I should probably get going."_

"_Come back anytime, ok?" Allison said standing up and hugging him. "I don't want you ever going that long with out calling again."_

"_Don't worry I won't." Roger said as he pulled away, he started walking toward the door when he stopped and turned around. "Listen, I know a lot of stuff has happened in the past but I was wondering if we could all start over?"_

"_I think that's a great idea." Allison said smiling. _

"_So do I." Benny said with a slight grin._

"_How about everyone meet at the Life?" Roger suggested. "It'll be like old times."_

"_Are you sure that's a good idea?" Benny asked. "I know I'm not on everyone's good side."_

"_I'll talk to everyone." Roger said smiling. "Just meet us at the Life at seven, ok?"_

"_Ok, we'll see you then." Allison said smiling as Roger walked out the door._

_END FLASHBACK_

I really wish I could have filmed everyone's reactions when I told them that I had invited Benny and Allison out with us. It was still a little awkward at first. But eventually all that awkwardness subsided and we were all able to get back to being friends again. Even Mimi and Allison were able to form a friendship, as odd as that sounds. Mimi had invited Allison to lunch to explain everything that had happened so they could put it in the past. But Mimi always knew that there was something in the back of Allison's mind that prevented them form becoming really close. At first she thought it was what happened with Benny but I think she knew it was something else. Mimi asked me about it about two weeks before she left. And I knew that I had to tell her about Kelly.

_Flashback_

"_Roger, can I ask you something?" Mimi asked as they lay on the couch._

"_Sure." Roger said as he looked down at her._

"_Do you ever notice how Allison gets distant when I mention certain things?" Mimi asked choosing her words very carefully._

"_What do you mean?" Roger asked._

"_Like if I start singing certain songs, it's like I'm reminding her of someone." Mimi said slowly. "You do it too." Roger took a deep breath, he knew that they would have to have this conversation sooner or later._

"_Sit up Meems." Roger said as he sat up._ _"She gets quiet because it reminds her of Kelly."_

"_She was your girlfriend before April, right?" Mimi asked._

"_How did you know?" Roger asked. _

"_I knew that there was someone before April." Mimi said. "If you don't want to talk about it, I understand."_

"_No, it's ok." Roger said slowly. "I should have told you about Kelly sooner, but it was just hard to talk about it." Roger started at the beginning and told Mimi everything. By the end they both had tears in their eyes. _

"_I'm really sorry." Mimi said. "But it makes things a lot clearer now."_

"_Allison and Kelly were really close." Roger said. "It's not you, it's just Allison still misses her."_

"_You all do." Mimi said. "Her not being her left a void in all of you. Especially you."_

"_I do miss her. I owe her an apology." Roger said. "But you know that I love you._

"_I know that." Mimi said hugging him. "I love you too."_

"_You're an amazing person." Roger said hugging her tightly. "I don't know what I would do without you."_

"_You give me too much credit." Mimi said. "You'd be fine."_

"_No, I owe you so much." Roger said looking her in the eyes. "You saved me."_

"_You saved me too." Mimi said as he leaned in and kissed her. _

"_Why don't we go lay down for awhile and then we'll go out with everyone?" Roger asked when he pulled away._

"_Ok." Mimi said as he pulled her up and led her to the bedroom. _

"_I love you Meems." Roger said hugging her tightly._

"_I love you too Roger." Mimi said as they fell asleep._

_END FLASHBACK_

Two weeks later she was gone. She said she needed to make amends with her family before she died. I think she knew that she was starting to get sick again. At first I was crushed. I loved her so much I didn't know what to do. And then all those feelings that I had buried about Kelly started to come back. I didn't lock myself in the loft like I did the last time, but I started to pull away from people. It was Mo who read me the riot act. She was never one to dance around the issue.

_Flashback_

_Roger sat in his bedroom looking at pictures of Kelly and Ellie. He felt the tears sting his eyes the longer he sat there. Finally he broke down into tears. He hadn't even heard the door open._

"_Roger?" Maureen said standing in the doorway._

"_What are you doing her Mo?" Roger asked as he tried to cover up the fact that he was crying. _

"_Don't bother." Maureen said as she came and sat down next to him. "I know that you're crying."_

"_I guess I can't pull anything over on you." Roger said laughing lightly as he began to pick up the pictures._

"_What made you decide to bring these out?" Maureen asked as she looked at them. _

"_I don't know. I've been thinking about her a lot since Mimi left." Roger said. "I just can't help but think she'll never know how sorry I am."_

"_You have to believe that she'll come back." Maureen said wrapping her arms around him. "She just needs time to heal."_

"_It's been four years Maureen." Roger said. "I don't think that she's coming back."_

"_She's got a lot of demons in her." Maureen said. "And not just Ellie, everything with her mom and dad too."_

"_I know." Roger said. "I just know that I don't have all the time in the world, and I want her to know that I'm sorry."_

"_You're not going anywhere yet." Maureen said hugging him tighter. "But you need to start hanging out with everyone more. It's not healthy for you just to be in the loft all day."_

"_I do go out." Roger protested. _

"_Oh sorry, you occasionally pick up a shift of two at the bar." Maureen said pulling away and rolling her eyes._

"_I just needed sometime to myself." Roger said._

"_Well you've had enough time." Maureen said standing up and pulling him up with her._

"_What are you doing?" Roger asked._

"_You are going to take me out to lunch." Maureen said pulling him towards the door._

"_Maureen." Roger said sternly._

"_Oh don't you dare say my name like that." Maureen said putting her hands on her hips. "I swear to god I am not above using violence."_

"_You're not going to give up are you?" Roger asked._

"_I'll never give up on my friends." Maureen said smiling. _

"_I guess I'm going to have to buy you lunch then." Roger said smiling as they made their way out the door. "You're a great friend." Roger said wrapping an arm around her shoulders._

"_Thanks." Maureen said smiling up at him. "You're not too bad yourself._

_END FLASHBACK_

Maureen was the only one that wouldn't let me stay in the loft. Everyone else would just let me have my alone time and hope that I would decide to come out. Mark would try but if I said no he would let it drop. Maureen would drag me kicking and screaming. But that's what I love about her. She's there if you need someone to talk to but she won't put up with your bullshit. That's what makes her such an amazing friend. I'm really lucky to have her. Actually I'm lucky to have all of my friends. They have all been there for me through everything and I'll be forever in their debt. I know they say it's what they would do for any of their friends and that they know that I would do it for them if the situation was reversed. But the fact is the situation wasn't reversed. It was me who needed them to be there for me and they were one hundred percent. And I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

A/N: Ok so I know that this chapter is really long. It's 17 pages! But all of this needed to be included. Roger's chapter is the most important chapter besides Kelly's. Just so you know Kelly's will be just as long if not longer. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'm really proud of this chapter. Well I'll keep this short, I'm going to start working on Kelly's chapter tomorrow. I have no idea how long it will take me to get that chapter done. But I'm going to push to get that chapter done by next Friday, but don't hold me to that. Thanks to everyone that has reviewed! You guys are amazing. I can't believe that there is only one more chapter left and then this story will be done. It's kind of sad for me. It'll be the end of an era. And it'll be the first story that I get done. Time Flies will also be coming to an end soon too. But don't worry there is still a lot to write for that story. Well that's it for now. Remember to review! Oh and I very big thank you to Renthead621, thanks so much for your help on this chapter and for writing a bit of when they find April. I don't know what I would do without you!

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


	29. Kelly

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. Any characters you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson and any character that you don't recognize belong to me.

**Kelly**

There are a lot of things that I regret in my life. I regret that I pushed Roger away when Ellie died. At first I was glad that he was by my side, I knew that I wasn't alone in all this. But after we buried Ellie I started to resent him. He seemed to be handling everything, like he was moving on. And I hated him for it. First because it seemed like it was nothing that we had just buried our child and second because I couldn't do that. I would sit in our bedroom and cry for hours. He'd do his best to console me but nothing made the hurt go away. I've never felt as much pain in my life as I did the day we buried Ellie.

_Flashback_

_Roger and Kelly slowly walked into the church, Kelly felt like she couldn't breath._

"_Roger I can't do this." She whispered fighting back the tears._

"_We have to." Roger whispered. "We have to do this for Ellie." Kelly didn't say anything but continued walking towards the front of the church where their parents were standing, everyone had tears running down their cheeks._

"_Are you ok?" Ann asked wrapping Kelly in a big hug. Kelly didn't say anything, she just nodded. _

"_Where's my dad?" Kelly asked pulling away from her. _

"_He couldn't make it." Ann said looking at the ground. "He's so sorry Kelly."_

"_I can't believe him." Kelly said as she started to cry and ran out of the church._

"_I'll go after her." Ann said as she started to go after her._

"_I think I should." Roger said. Ann stopped and nodded. Roger found Kelly outside sitting by a tree._

"_I can't believe him." Kelly said sobbing as Roger sat down next to him. "She was his granddaughter."_

"_I know." Roger said wrapping his arms around her. _

"_I needed him to be here today." Kelly said crying harder. "I needed him to be here."_

"_I know." Roger said trying to think of something to calm her down. "But you know you have a lot of people that love you and that are here for you." Kelly nodded. "We should probably get back in there." Roger said standing up and pulling her up with him._

"_It hurts so bad." Kelly whispered. _

"_I know." Was all that Roger could say._

_END FLASHBACK_

Losing a child is a pain that never fully heals. I spent many years trying to runaway from that pain and it ended up costing me so much. It killed me when I found out about the drugs and April. I felt like the one person in the world who could pull me through what was happening abandoned me. So I did the same. I took the job in LA knowing that it would probably end up hurting our relationship even more. But some part of my mind convinced me that this was a way to save our relationship. But after I caught him with April I ran. I thought that I could start over and make a new life for myself. But all I was really doing was running from the people that I loved most in the world. I was so lonely without them, it was the perfect circumstances for Eddie. I met him through some people that I worked with.

_Flashback _

_Kelly's new coworkers had taken her out to a bar one weekend. They wanted to get to know her better, Kelly had been a little reluctant. She wasn't in the mood to be around a bunch of drunk people. It had been two months and she hadn't talked to any of her friends since her plane landed. She had tried so many times, she would pick of the phone and start to dial and then hang up again. She didn't know if they hated her, if they were mad because of the way she left. And her mind reasoned that she would rather live not knowing than have it confirmed that they hated her. So here she was out with a bunch of people she barely knew and wasn't sure that she liked._

"_So did you like New York?" Sarah, her coworker asked._

"_Yeah I loved it." Kelly said looking down at the beer in her hand._

"_Then why did you decide to stay out here?" Jenny, another coworker asked._

"_Just needed to get out for a little while." Kelly said, praying that they would stop asking about New York or her past._

"_Was it a bad break up or something?" Sarah continued with the questions. _

"_Something like that." Kelly mumbled into her drink as she took a big sip. "I think I'm going to get something a little stronger." She said as she got up and walked away. She ordered a Jack and coke and sat down at the bar. When the bartender brought it over to her she just stared at it. It's what Roger always drank. She fought to push him out of her mind._

"_Something wrong with your drink?" She heard someone ask. She turned and saw a guy sitting next to her. He was blonde, dark eyes. He was smiling at her._

"_Just thinking." Kelly said taking a sip of her drink._

"_I'm Eddie." He said holding out his hand. _

"_Kelly." She said shaking his hand._

"_So what are you doing here all alone?" He asked with a smirk. Kelly knew he was trying to pick her up. But she'd rather sit there and have him hit on her rather than go back to that table._

"_A few coworkers wanted to come out." Kelly said. "But they were getting to be a little much so I decided to sit over here."_

"_Do you want to dance?" Eddie asked standing up and smiling at her._

"_Sure why not." Kelly said standing up and taking his hand as he led her to the dance floor. They danced for a little bit before Eddie took Kelly to a room in back._

"_A friend of mine works here." Eddie said smiling as he sat down on the couch. He moved the coffee table closer to him. He pulled out a vile and taped it on the table. Kelly saw the white powder and knew instantly it was coke. "You want to do a line?"_

"_I don't think so." Kelly said hesitantly. She'd tried it once before and didn't really like it. But there was a voice in the back of her mind telling her that just this once wouldn't hurt anything._

"_Come on." Eddie said smiling. "Just a line or two and then we'll go back out and dance. Trust me, it'll make your night so much better." He promised as he began cutting the powder into lines._

"_I…I" Kelly hesitated. She knew that even considering do it would be stupid. But right then and there she didn't care. She wanted something that would take away all the pain that she had inside of her. Make losing Ellie and Roger and all of her friends not tear her soul apart. "I guess so." Kelly said quietly as Eddie patted the place next to him. Kelly slowly made her way over to him and sat down. He finished rolling up the dollar bill he'd taken out of his pocket and bent down to snort the line. When he sat back up, wiped his nose and handed the make shift straw to Kelly. She took it hesitantly._

"_It'll be fine." He said smiling as his eyes started to glaze over and he rubbed her back. Kelly took the straw and slowly bent down towards the table. _

_END FLASHBACK_

At first I swore to myself that it would only be when I was a party or out at a club. But that slowly turned into everyday. Within two months I was doing lines everyday. I don't know how I kept my job during that time, my work slipped to below standards. I basically stopped calling my family. I knew that they would know in an instant if they talked to me. So I kept telling them that I was really busy with work and I didn't have the time. I was blowing most of my paychecks on coke. It wasn't bad at first but when Eddie started to hit me I started doing it more. I know I should have left him the instant that he hit me, but I didn't want to be alone. As sorry as that is it's what happened. I honestly didn't think that it would get as bad as it did. Thank god Jimmy came over, I don't know if I would be alive right now if he didn't.

_Flashback_

_Jimmy knocked on Kelly's apartment door. He was worried sick about her. She hadn't been showing up to work and when she was there she was out of it. He was so scared that she was on drugs. And the few times that Kelly had shown up, he'd noticed bruises. He knocked again when he still hadn't gotten an answer. He was about to give up when he noticed that her window was open. Jimmy thanked god that she was on the ground floor. When he got in he saw Kelly laying on the floor curled into a ball, the house was destroyed._

"_Oh god." Jimmy yelled as he ran over to her. She was breathing but she was barely conscious. She looked like someone had kicked the shit out of her. "Kelly I'm calling an ambulance." Kelly just groaned. Jimmy got up and went over to where the phone was lying on the phone. He let out a sigh of relief when it had a dial tone. As he dialed 911 his heart sank as he noticed a mirror on the floor that was covered in a white powder. All his fears were confirmed in that instant._

_END FLASHBACK_

Jimmy was there when I woke up. He really laid into me. I had never seen him so angry before and it scared me. But he was right about everything.

_Flashback_

_Kelly opened her eyes and saw that she was in a hospital room._

"_What happened?" She asked it was barely audible. _

"_Why don't you tell me?" Jimmy asked firmly. He didn't want to yell at her but he wanted to know what happened._

"_Eddie." Kelly said quietly._

"_When the cops come in here, you have to tell then everything that happened." Jimmy said. "No one deserves what he did to you."_

"_I know." Kelly said looking at him. "But what if he tries coming back?"_

"_I promise you that won't happen." Jimmy promised taking her hand. "But I need to talk to you about something else too."_

"_What?" She asked._

"_I know about the drugs." Jimmy said as Kelly pulled her hand away._

"_I don't know what you're talking about." Kelly said turning away from him._

"_If you don't want to talk about it now, that's fine." Jimmy said sitting back in his chair. "But I'm going to make you talk eventually."_

_"Kelly, I know that you're on that shit." Jimmy yelled. "I saw the mirror! It was covered in white powder. You think I don't know what that means? My baby brother fucking died because of that shit. And I'll be dammned if I have to bury you too!"_

_"Why do you even care?" Kelly yelled._

_"Because, I know that you're a good persone. I know that you are better than that." Jimmy said. "What happened to the girl that took those pictures all those months ago? She has to be in there somewhere."_

_Before Kelly could respond Nick burst into the room. Jimmy left to let the siblings talk._

_END FLASHBACK_

Jimmy didn't get another chance to talk to me. My mom and Nick had been there around the clock and he thought that they could get through to me. He assumed that they knew about everything. But they didn't. A few weeks later I was released from the hospital and my mom and Nick took me back to my apartment. My mom had cleaned it up and everything. After they got me settled I made them leave and go back. I knew they had jobs and family to get back to. And I needed to feed my habit and I couldn't do that when they were there. After everything that had happened that was my main concern. How my mother didn't find my stash I'll never know. But the first thing I did when they left was get it.

_Flashback_

_Kelly waited a few minutes until after her mother and Nick left. She slowly got up and walked slowly towards her bedroom. She was still sore and had a few bruises. She knelt down next to her bed and reached under it. There were three small glass containers hidden in the frame. She sat on her bed and looked at them. She opened the drawer to her nightstand and pulled out a picture. It was of her, Roger, and Ellie. She felt the tears burning her eyes as she looked at the picture. She hated the person that she had become. _

"_It wasn't supposed to be like this." She whispered as she started to cry. She kissed the picture and looked at it on last time. "I'm sorry I wasn't a stronger person." She said as she put the picture back. She pulled a mirror out of the drawer and started pouring the powder and cutting it into lines. She didn't stop until she was passed out. _

_Jimmy walked into the apartment calling Kelly's name. Her mother had given him a key so that he could keep an eye on her._

"_Kelly?" He called again. He was starting to get worried. He knew that she was home, she had to have been home by now. He walked into the bedroom and saw her passed out on the floor next to a broken mirror._

"_God damn it!" He yelled as he rushed over to her. She was barely breathing. Images of his brother flashed across his mind. He'd OD'd at twenty because of coke. Jimmy rushed to the telephone and called for the ambulance._

"_I swear to god, I'm not going to let you kill yourself." Jimmy said as he heard the sirens in the background._

_END FLASHBACK_

I came to in the hospital surrounded by my mother, Nick, and Jimmy. The look on my mothers face nearly killed me. She looked hurt and devastated and it was all because of me. I didn't deserve to have them care for me after what I had done. Jimmy got me into rehab and I've been clean ever since. Rehab was tough, it forced me to deal with all the demons that I had in me. Even though I dealt with a lot of my issues they were far from gone. But I dealt with enough that I was able to go back to work and live a pretty healthy life. Jimmy had asked if I would be up to go to New York for a week for work. After rehab we became really good friends and I told him why I really left. I thought that I was ready to talk to them, I really did. But the second my plane touched down I avoided Alphabet City at all costs. But fate has it's way of making you do things even if you don't want to do them. I had gone to a bar with a coworker and who happened to be playing there? Roger. I saw him with Mimi and all of our friends and knew that I couldn't say anything to him.

_Flashback_

_Kelly sat in the back of the bar with Jenny. It was Jenny's first time in New York and she had dragged Kelly out with her. Kelly heard everyone cheer as the band came onstage. She heard someone yell out 'Go Roger' and froze. She looked up and sure enough there he was. He looked good. His hair was longer and he looked healthy. _

"_Oh my god." Kelly whispered to herself._

"_This is going to be so cool." Jenny commented. Kelly didn't say anything but just kept staring at him. _

"_This first song is a song I wrote a long time ago." Roger said into the microphone. "I wrote it for someone I knew a long time ago." Kelly felt the tears come to her eyes as she heard the song. She took out her camera and took one picture. Something told her that she needed a picture, if she never saw him again at least she'd have that picture._

_It's so cold, let's take flight  
Well, we won't need a net, hold on tight  
A new ride is unveiled, and we don't need to try  
So there's no way to fail _

_A desperate look in our eyes, holding on to one another  
Holding on for all our lives, just letting go to discover_

_It's okay to realize  
Being born into nothing and no one and nowhere, it's all a surprise_

_The desperate look in our eyes, holding on to one another  
Holding on for all our lives, just letting go to discover  
That love don't need a reason  
And love don't need a rhyme  
I'm standing here pleading  
And you just cover your eyes_

_The tears were pouring down her cheeks as he finished the song. Her song, the song he wrote for her when they were still in high school. _

"_That was called Rhyme and Reason." Roger said. "This next song I wrote for my girlfriend Mimi. I love you with all my heart." Roger said as everyone cheered. "It's called Your Eyes."_

_Kelly felt like someone stabbed her in her heart when she heard that. She knew that she couldn't go back. Not if he had moved on. She wouldn't cause him more heartache. She watched as he sang a heartbreakingly beautiful song about this Mimi girl, his new love. _

"_Are you ok?" Jenny asked as the band announced they were taking a break and would be back on in a little bit._

"_Yeah I'm fine." Kelly said as she watched Roger pick up a small Latina girl and kiss her. Then she saw the rest of her friends, they were all happy and smiling. "I need to go have a cigarette." Kelly said as she got up and walked outside. She stood against a wall in the alley and inhaled the cigarette like it was her life. She heard the door open and saw Mimi step out and pull out a cigarette._

"_Do you have a light?" Mimi asked chuckling softly. "That's acutally the line I used to pick up my boyfriend." Mimi said smiling at her._

"_Um, sure." Kelly said holding out her lighter._

"_Thanks." Mimi said as she lit her cigarette. "Did you see the show?"_

"_Yeah." Kelly said looking at the ground. "They were really good."_

"_Are you ok?" Mimi asked noticing that she was red and puffy like she had been crying._

"_I'm fine." Kelly said as she threw her cigarette down and started towards the door._

"_You've been crying." Mimi pointed out._

"_I'm fine, really." Kelly said looking her in the eyes for the first time._

"_Do I know you?" Mimi said vaguely recognizing her. _

"_This is the first time that I've been in New York in nearly three years." Kelly said. Something in Mimi's mind clicked in that instant._

"_Oh my god." Mimi gasped as she put her hand over her mouth. "You're Kelly. You're Roger's Kelly."_

"_How do you know me?" Kelly asked. She hadn't thought that Roger would have said anything about her._

"_I found a picture of you and asked Collins." Mimi said. "Are you going to see them?"_

"_No." Kelly said quickly. "I'm just going to get my stuff and leave. I promise that I'm not going to cause any problems for you and Roger."_

"_You should see him." Mimi said looking at the ground. "He misses you. They all do."_

"_If I go in there right now, it will only cause trouble for everyone involved." Kelly said. "Just forget you ever saw me and go back inside."_

"_I can't do that." Mimi said. "Collins told me how in love you guys were and how close you were to everyone. It's killed them not knowing where you've been."_

"_Please." Kelly said as she started to cry. "I can't go in there and face them. At least not right now. Maybe someday, but not today."_

"_No day but today." Mimi said quietly. "No one is guaranteed tomorrow."_

"_I can't do it. I jut can't do that right now, I'm sorry." Kelly said as more tears fell. "Just tell me one thing." Kelly begged. "Just tell me if they're happy."_

"_Yes." Mimi said softly. "But that doesn't mean..." Kelly cut her off before she said anythign else._

"_If they're happy I'm not going to be the one that ruins that." Kelly said trying to control her tears. "Just forget that you ever saw me here." And with that she ran into the club and grabbed her stuff and Jenny. No one else even saw her._

_END FLASHBACK_

I don't know if Mimi kept my secret, I'm assuming that she did. I was so scared that she wouldn't so I came back to LA earlier then I was supposed to. I really thought that would be my last time in New York. I was just going to stay on the west coast and avoid them the rest of my life. But I found a lump in my breast and had to get a biopsy done. It scared me to death. It was the thing that killed my mother and now I thought that it just might kill me too. And I reliazed that if I had died right then and there I would have left so many things unfinished. That's when I decided that I didn't want to die without at least making amends with them. And when Jimmy said that I was offered a job in the city, I took it. Even if my friends wanted nothing to do with me, at least I would know that I tried to make peace with them. If anything happened I could die with a clean conscious. Nick was so proud of me when I told him that I was moving back.

_Flashback_

"_You're really coming back?" Nick asked excitedly. _

"_Yes." Kelly said smiling over the phone._

"_You know what you're going to have to do, right?" Nick asked._

"_I know I'm going to have to face them." Kelly sighed. "I don' t know if I can face them right away but I know that I'm going to have to eventually. I'm ok with that now."_

"_What made you change your mind?" Nick asked. "Was it about the biopsy?"_

"_Yes." Kelly said with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to die one day without knowing that I made some attempt to heal all those old wounds."_

"_They'll welcome you back with open arms." Nick said._

"_You don't know that." Kelly said. _

"_Yes I do." Nick said. "You guys were so close. There's no reason to think that they are holding any type of grudge."_

"_I made a lot of mistakes." Kelly said. _

"_So did everyone back then." Nick said. "I think everyone knows how precious time is now, and not to waste it. No day but today."_

"_Where did you hear that?" Kelly asked. She remembered Mimi saying the same thing two years earlier._

"_I heard it from Becca." Nick said hesitantly._

"_When did you talk to Becca?" Kelly asked. "Did she mention Roger?"_

"_I bumped into her a month ago." Nick said. "And I've already told you, I won't tell you anything. If you want to know how he is then you can go find out for yourself."_

"_Nick I'm coming back." Kelly said getting angry. "So what's it matter if you tell me now?"_

"_Because anything I could tell you would be better coming from him." Nick explained. "Just drop it, you're not going to win this one."_

"_Fine." Kelly said. "My cab is going to be here in a little bit anyway. I'll call you once I get to the hotel."_

"_You know you could stay with me." Nick said._

"_It's fine. My office is paying for the hotel." Kelly said. "Plus I want my own space."_

"_Ok, if you're sure." Nick said. "I love you."_

"_I love you too." Kelly said. "I'll call you after I get settled in New York. It might be a few days because I'm going to need to get stuff at the office set up."_

"_Ok." Nick said. "I'll see you soon." Kelly hung up the phone and started packing the last of her boxes. When she was done she grabbed the bag that she was taking with her on the flight. She pulled out a photo album and opened to a picture of the entire group right. She was holding Ellie in her arms._

"_I promise I'll make this all up to you." Kelly said as she kissed her fingers and touched the picture. She heard the buzzer and quickly put the album away. She took a deep breath and slung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her luggage. It was finally time for Kelly Keaton to go back to New York, where she had ran from so long ago and make amends with the people she left behind._

_END FLASHBACK_

You can't run forever. It all catches up to you somehow. I learned that the hard way. As I sit on this plane waiting to get back to New York I can't help but be scared. I don't know what I'm walking into in New York. I haven't uttered a word to anyone in over four years. But I know in my heart that it's the right thing to do. I can't hate Roger forever, the things that happened were beyond our control. And I really don't hate him. It just took me awhile to get to the point where I could put the past in the past. We both reacted badly to the circumstances that surrounded us back then. But hopefully we'll be able to put that behind us and be friends. That's the only thing that I want from any of them. The chance to be their friend again. And if that doesn't happen, at least I know that I made an effort to heal those old wounds. Like Mimi told me two years ago, No Day But Today.

A/N: And that's the end of this story. I decided to make Kelly's viewpoint be from before she gets back to New York. That way it comes full circle and fits with the first chapter of Time Flies, which is Kelly on the plane coming back to New York. I just want to thank everyone that has followed this story, you've been amazing. You have no idea how much it means to me to have you really like this story. This chapter was really hard to write, especially the parts with Kelly doing drugs. But I knew that it had to be done. A lot of parts were very hard for me to right. But at the end of the day I think the story did benefit. I'm going to focus more on Time Flies so I can get that done sometime soon. I think the reality of this story being done will hit me even harder then, because then I'll be done with Kelly and Roger's story. It's like they have become a part of me. I've written their relatioship from the time they were fifteen up untill where they are in Time Flies. I just want to thank you guys for taking the time to follow as that relationship developed into where we see Roger and Kelly in Time Flies, that goes fore everyone else in the group too. I think that all these characters have grown throughout these two stories. I need to take the time to thank Renthead621, she's been here since I first posted Time Flies. She's been there for me in so many ways. She was so helpful when I had writers block, she helped me think of ideas and she wrote a few things here and there. That is why this story is dedicated to her. She deserves it. She's been there for me when I was dealing with my crazy life and she's been nothing short of an amazing friend. Renthead621- Thank you so much for everything. This story is for you! With that said, I'm going to end here. Thank you all once again and I hope you'll continue to follow Time Flies and my other stories. And I hope to get one final review, to know what you guys think. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writting it.

Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,

BohemianGirl06


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